Kenya:Equity Bank mobile pulls in customers

Equity Bank’s mobile platform Equitel brand has made an impressive impact in the market since its recent launch.

The banks’ mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is Finserve Africa Limited, but it trades as Equitel.

Late last year Equity beganissuing ordinary SIM cards for telecom and mobile banking services to its 8.7 million customers across the country which has given the bank a considerable advantage.

The advantage for Equity is that its MVNO does not own its own network, but uses other operators network, including base stations. 

However it offers its own products and services separate from its host network and this has been a bone of contention with competing Safricom.

According to industry sources, in Kenya, most operators have idle capacity due to Safaricom’s 80% dominance.

Equity Bank customers can use the service for a number of banking transactions including money transfer to other accounts or to any mobile money service through their mobile phones. Users can also use the SIM to make and receive calls.

According to the Kenya Communication Authority quarterly report, for Q2, financial year 2014/2015, the Equitel had 394,606 subscriptions compared to that of Orange Money, which stood at 190,129.

The Equity Bank Kenya Limited’s parent company, the Equity Group Holdings Limited, has a customer base in excess of 9.2 million in the six East Arican countries that it serves, making it the largest commercial bank on the African continent, by customer numbers.