Africa is a continent that has embraced the power of mobile and digital technology like few others, changing the lives of millions in communities that need it the most. According to the GSMA, mobile technologies and services generated 9% of Sub-Saharan GDP in 2019.
African financial institutions are at the forefront of this change. In Kenya, one of Africa’s biggest markets, Western Union collaborated with KCB Bank to launch Western Union digital money transfer services on KCB’s mobile banking App, offering millions of customers an easy and convenient way to send and receive international money transfers.
Customers can send money using funds from their bank accounts and choose for the receiver to have the money paid out to their bank account or at retail, depending on the country they reside in. They are also now able to receive international money transfers direct to their KCB accounts using Western Union’s unique tracking number (MTCN) along with other requested information.
This means that millions of consumers in Kenya now have access to Western Union’s extensive global financial network provides access to billions of bank accounts and millions of mobile wallets in approximately 125 countries, and more than half a million agent locations across more than 200 countries and territories.
KCB Bank Kenya is the largest commercial bank in the country. A subsidiary of KCB Group Plc, the bank has the largest branch network, with 200 branches, 367 ATMs and 16,000 agents offering banking services on a 24/7 basis in East Africa. KCB Group Plc also has a presence in Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda and a representative office in Ethiopia.
Kenya heavily relies on diaspora remittances for its foreign exchange income and economic development. In 2020, remittances into Kenya reached an all-time high of $3.094 billion from $2.796 billion received in 2019 according to the latest data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). North America accounted for the bulk of the remittance inflow, followed by Europe.
