London, United Kingdom; Monday, 9 November 2020. Prime Bank, a leading private bank in Kenya, has partnered with London-based FinTech SimbaPay, to launch an instant international money transfer service via the bank’s digital platform PrimeMobi. Through SimbaPay, Prime Bank customers will now be able to instantly and securely send money directly to bank accounts or mobile wallets across 15 countries in Africa, Europe, and Asia including India, United Kingdom, China (WeChat Pay), Germany, Uganda among others. Commenting on the partnership, SimbaPay’s Head of Operations Victor Karanja noted that the service will provide a seamless platform for Prime Bank’s customer base to send money abroad at the click of a button. “Businesses as well as Kenyans and expatriates with friends and family abroad send over $18 Billion to other African countries, Asia and Europe annually with several billion Kenya Shillings going through the Simbapay network. Therefore this service will offer Prime Bank’s customers a world-class fully digital International Money Transfer service” added Mr. Karanja. Prime Bank’s Director for Business Development, Vijay Kantaria said the tier 2 lender has embarked on investment in technology through partnering with various FinTechs to accelerate its digital integration plan. “Through our digital platforms, we aim to make available a one stop solution to our customers in terms of funds transfer and with the inclusion of SimbaPay, our customers will now send money to friends and family across the world at the comfort of their mobile phones,” added Mr. Kantaria. To access the service, customers will need to login to the bank’s mobile banking app - PrimeMobi, then click on International Money Transfer icon on the homescreen. After confirming the amount to be sent, the sender’s bank account will be debited and money credited to the beneficiary instantly.
Transfers can also be sent from M-Pesa using a dedicated SimbaPay @ Prime Bank pay bill number. -Ends - About SimbaPay SimbaPay is an award winning FinTech (financial technology) firm that provides a digital international money transfers service to banks and mobile money companies in Africa. The SimbaPay product often requires little or no technical integration for rollout by financial institutions. SimbaPay’s solution for financial institutions was awarded “B2B Solution Winner 2018” at RemTECH, the largest remittance tech event globally. The business was also recently featured on TechCrunch, the world’s leading technology publication. The company is headquartered in London and can be found online at www.SimbaPay.com . About Prime Bank Limited Prime Bank Ltd is one of the leading private banks in Kenya and was founded in 1992. Serving its customers for over 25 years, with a network of 21 branches, Prime Bank has the expertise to deliver flexible, efficient and personalized services. The Bank has business interests in other African countries such as Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, and in Zimbabwe where it recently acquired Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe through its associate bank First Capital Bank. For more details about the Bank, please visit our website: https://www.primebank.co.ke/
0 Comments
London, United Kingdom; Wednesday, 28 November 2018 - Family Bank Limited, a leading bank in Kenya, has partnered with London-based financial technology firm SimbaPay to launch an instant money transfer service from Kenya to China through WeChat – a service that will help boost Kenya-China trade. Over seven million customers and businesses in Kenya will now access SimbaPay’s international money transfer service to send money to China’s WeChat Pay from Family Bank’s PesaPap mobile banking application and USSD service. Non-customers too will enjoy the service via a dedicated PayBill number 261059 on MPESA. With over 1 billion subscribers, WeChat is the largest payment and social media app in China. This initiative therefore connects Africa’s largest mobile money ecosystem to China’s largest payment service in real-time. “This is a huge milestone for us and our customers. We are glad to extend, more so to our SME customers, a solution that offers an instant, reliable, traceable and affordable channel to send money to their suppliers and business partners in China,” said Family Bank Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Godfrey Kamau. China is Kenya’s biggest trading partner. In 2017 alone, businesses in Kenya imported well over USD 4 billion worth of goods from China. The current existing solutions for sending money to China take multiple days to reach the recipient’s bank account, with some requiring the supplier to physically visit an agent to collect their money. This new service easily overcomes these barriers.
With the increased efficiency provided by this new service, traders in Kenya will replenish stock faster, thus bolstering trade between the two nations. Additionally, financial inclusion will be positively impacted as more small scale traders will be able to directly source goods from China instead of depending on middlemen to make payments on their behalf. How it worksTraders in Kenya already use WeChat to communicate with their suppliers in China hence this solution will be a seamless and natural progression - all a user requires when sending money to China is the recipient’s mobile phone number. Money sent by Family Bank customers and non-customers via the SimbaPay service is instantly delivered to WeChat Pay recipients in Chinese Yuan. This service offers the sender a chance to review the transaction and exchange rate applicable before releasing the payment. This service can be accessed by downloading the Family Bank PesaPap mobile banking app from application stores (Google Play store and Apple Store) or by dialling USSD code *325# in Kenya. On MPESA the service is available via PayBill no. 261059 and with the sender required to quote the recipient’s phone number (e.g. +86 077000 12345) in the ‘Account’ field. In addition to the China (WeChat) service, SimbaPay also supports money transfer to Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ghana, Nigeria, Madagascar, Niger and India. -Ends - About SimbaPay SimbaPay is an award winning FinTech (financial technology) firm that gives banks and mobile money companies in Africa an international money transfer service that they offer to their customers. SimbaPay’s solution for financial institutions was awarded “B2B Solution Winner 2018” at RemTECH, the largest remittance tech event globally. The business was also selected as a “TC Top Pick” by TechCrunch at Disrupt SF 2018. With a focus on Financial Inclusion, extreme speed, convenience and constant innovation, users are able to send money instantly to loved ones or even merchants across Africa and beyond, from wherever they are at any time of day or night. The company is headquartered in London and can be found online at www.SimbaPay.com . Twitter: @SimbaPay https://twitter.com/SimbaPay Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SimbaPay About Family Bank Limited Family Bank prides itself in growing a very strong retail customer base with a key focus in SME banking. From only one branch in 1985, the Bank has grown over time and currently enjoys a branch network of 91 branches, 4,000 bank agents and over 10,000 merchants countrywide. Family Bank was the first bank in Kenya to introduce paperless banking through smart card technology that enabled customers to transact without having to fill in deposit or withdrawal slips. In 2010, Family Bank was the first bank to introduce mobile banking in Kenya and in 2016 the first to launch mVisa service in Africa. The Bank has received numerous awards including the Think Business Fastest Growing Bank Award three years in a row between 2013 and 2015, the Think Business Best Bank in Micro-Finance Award, 1st Runner-up in 2013 and 2014. In 2017, the Family Bank was feted as the Best SME Bank in Kenya at annual Banker Africa Awards, East Africa – an award initiative for financial institutions in Africa. For more information about Family Bank, please visit our website www.familybank.co.ke London, United Kingdom; Monday 26 March 2018 Technology news: Techstars alumni, SimbaPay in collaboration with Interswitch announces the launch of a remittance chatbot, to enable SMS based Pan-Africa digital money transfer. SimbaPay – a London based digital money transfer provider – today announced the launch of an AI (Artificial Intelligence) powered chatbot service which now makes International Money Transfer (remittance) possible with only an SMS. The SimbaPay chatbot will also enable 24/7 instant customer service for its customers across Africa and Europe. “We’re thrilled at the prospect of the chatbot service resolving most customer enquiries instantly at any time of day or night” said Daniel Howard, CTO for SimbaPay. “Another major objective we achieved with the chatbot service is that it also works without internet. This means customers with a mobile phone, even a basic phone without internet access, can access the SimbaPay chatbot using SMS”. Speaking on the Interswitch partnership with SimbaPay, Paul Mwaura Ndichu, CEO Interswitch East Africa (K) said, “Interswitch is proud to be associated with a company as innovative as SimbaPay which is continually looking to improve and expand its product offering. We will continue to collaborate in development of products and services that contribute to expansion of the fintech space”. Together with Interswitch, SimbaPay’s B2B division offers its instant remittance technology to banks & telcos who want to provide their customers with a modern digital remittance service.
SimbaPay platform senders can now send money with just an SMS. All they require is the recipient’s phone number and the chatbot will automatically obtain the recipient bank account or mobile money details. With this launch, recipients of money transfers from SimbaPay now also have the flexibility of choosing whether to get their cash delivered to their Mobile Money wallet (e.g. M-Pesa, MTN Money, Airtel Money) or their bank account. In some instances, recipients may not have a smartphone or internet data bundles or airtime credit. To address this, the SimbaPay chatbot is accessible through free of charge SMS. Some of the banks that offer SimbaPay powered remittance services have millions of customers and therefore receive a high volume of enquiries. The chatbot provides the scalability to handle thousands of customer enquiries per hour. The SimbaPay chatbot service is also accessible on SimbaPay’s social media channels including Facebook. Popular enquiries that are now resolved by the chatbot include exchange rate queries, how to send money instructions and coverage enquiries. Accolades Last year SimbaPay was nominated as the Best Remittance Service in Africa at the Digital Impact Awards Africa. In consideration of its social impact, this month SimbaPay was selected to receive investment from Katapult, a Norwegian based social impact fund. In 2016, SimbaPay was selected as one of 10 companies to join the first ever Barclays Accelerator powered by Techstars in Africa. The app continues to disrupt the cross-border remittance industry with its focus on Financial Inclusion, extreme speed and convenience. How SimbaPay Works To send money via SimbaPay, customers living in activated African & European countries simply download the SimbaPay app from the Apple AppStore or Google Play. App users can then proceed to securely make money transfers straight from any smartphone, tablet or computer. Together with Interswitch, SimbaPay’s B2B division offers its instant remittance technology to banks & telcos who want to provide their customers with a modern digital remittance service. About SimbaPay SimbaPay is an award winning mobile app transforming the international remittance space. With a focus on Financial Inclusion, extreme speed, convenience and constant innovation, users are able to send money instantly to loved ones or even merchants across Africa and beyond, from wherever they are at any time of day or night. The company is headquartered in London and can be found online at www.SimbaPay.com London, United Kingdom; Monday 05 Dec 2016
Technology news: Techstars alumni, SimbaPay announces the addition of Ghana and Uganda as remittance destinations on its international digital money transfer platform. SimbaPay – a London based digital money transfer provider – today announced the launch of its money transfer service to Ghana and Uganda. Using the SimbaPay app or website, Ghanaians and Ugandans living in Europe can now send money to mobile phones in Ghana or Uganda instantly. “This is the perfect Christmas gift to Ghanaians and Ugandans living in Europe who have been asking when SimbaPay will expand coverage to their home countries” said Nyasinga Onyancha, CEO for SimbaPay. “By delivering money via existing mobile money wallet services, many recipients who previously could not access formal financial services can now do so” Ghanaians and Ugandans living in Europe (UK & European Union countries) with a bank account, debit card or credit card will be able to use the SimbaPay app from any mobile phone, tablet or computer. Transfers made using SimbaPay are credited within seconds to recipients’ mobile money wallets such as MTN Mobile Money. This eliminates the inconvenience of queues and old school paperwork. SimbaPay also delivers money transfers via mobile money and bank account to other African countries such as Nigeria and Kenya with more destinations and partners being sought for addition in 2017. Accolades In April 2016, SimbaPay was selected as one of 10 companies to join the first ever Barclays Accelerator powered by Techstars in Africa. The app continues to disrupt the cross-border remittance industry with its focus on extreme speed and convenience In 2015, SimbaPay was named the Overall Winner at the prestigious Demo Africa 2015. SimbaPay also launched free, instant transfers from Europe to all Nigerian banks last year. How SimbaPay Works To send money via SimbaPay, Africans living in Europe with a bank account or debit card simply download the SimbaPay app from the Apple AppStore or Google Play. App users can then proceed to securely make money transfers straight from any smartphone, tablet or computer. About SimbaPay SimbaPay is an award winning mobile app transforming the international remittance space. With a focus on extreme speed, convenience and constant innovation, users are able to send money free to loved ones or even merchants in Africa, from wherever they are at any time of day or night. |