NAIROBI - The National Bank of Kenya (NBK) joined a partnership with digital money transfer service, WorldRemit to offer instant money transfers to Kenya.
The newly-formed allegiance sees a partnership which will enable Kenyans living abroad to make instant transfers to Kenya.
Instant bank deposits can now be made from WorldRemit to NBK accounts.
The deposits can be held in both Kenyan Shillings (KES) and US Dollars.
In addition, funds can be sent for cash pickup in KES across NBK’s sizeable branch network.
NBK is regarded as one of the largest commercial banks in the country.
It sees to the effective needs of its customers by its migrated banking in 2016.
This move enabled customers to bank in diverse currencies and create a financial medium in their home country.
This is reflected in the sharp foreign exchange which Kenyans ploughed back into Kenya.
We have partnered with @WorldRemit to offer instant international money transfers to Kenya. For more infor' visit https://t.co/ed8jOIKYeu pic.twitter.com/EhISZpvQp5
— National Bank 🇰🇪 (@National_Bank) August 14, 2017
Kshs 177.34 billion (USD 1.71 billion) was sent home in 2016 from Kenyans living abroad compared to Kshs 159.82 (USD 1.54 billion) in 2015.
Over the two years, there is a recorded 11% Year on Year increase, according to the Central Bank of Kenya.
Foreign payments is Kenya's largest source of foreign exchange - leading ahead of key industries such as tea and horticulture.
2 Million money transfers have been made by WorldRemit customers since the beginning of operations in Kenya.
It is recorded that these transfers occur 80,000 times every month from the WorldRemit app and website.
On a global scale, WorldRemit customers send nearly 700,000 transfers every month to more than 140 destinations.
According to 2016 GSMA data, WorldRemit is currently processing 74% of all transfers to mobile money accounts coming from money transfer operators.
“Our new partnership with WorldRemit is part of the bank’s commitment to increasing banking convenience for bank for our customers abroad", said Wilfred Musau, National Bank Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director.
Ismail Ahmed, founder and CEO at WorldRemit, adds:
“We’re proud to work in partnership with the National Bank of Kenya, a trusted and dependable financial institution with a wide network of branches across the country.”
“We are delighted that this partnership will enable us to offer an enhanced service to our Kenyan customers.
They can now transfer funds to NBK accounts quickly, to be paid out in shillings or dollars.
It’s a welcome expansion of our fast, safe and lower cost online service which has already proved so popular with Kenyans.”
#Hargeisa: Had a wonderful time With @WorldRemit Founder & CEO Dr. Ismail AI. Worldremit is one of the UK's fastest-growing FinTech business pic.twitter.com/HkohAv4RJw
— Abdirashed Ibrahim (@cabdirashed) August 13, 2017
- BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE