Kenyan microfinance bank (MFB) Equity Bank has reportedly partnered with telecommunications company Orange to launch Iko-Pesa, a mobile-to-mobile money transfer service similar to M-Pesa, another mobile money transfer program headed by telecommunications company Safaricom. Iko-Pesa will also allow users to pay utility bills and buy consumer products from select businesses through mobile phones. The program will remain exclusive to Equity Bank account holders. Both Equity Bank and Orange have expressed interest in launching similar mobile money programs in Tanzania and Rwanda in the coming year [1]. As reported to the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Market in 2009, Equity Bank has USD 1.27 billion in total assets, a gross loan portfolio of USD 818 million and 716,000 active borrowers.
About Equity Bank: Equity Bank, founded in 1984, is a microfinance bank based in Nairobi, Kenya that provides loans, savings and fund transfer services and is funded through its savings deposits and shareholder capital. It reportedly accounts for 56 percent of bank accounts in Kenya with 4.9 million accounts as of July 2010. It is involved in microfinance operations not only in Kenya, but also in Southern Sudan and Uganda through its subsidiary, Equity Bank Uganda. As reported to the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Market in 2009, Equity Bank has USD 1.27 billion in total assets, a gross loan portfolio of USD 818 million and 716,000 active borrowers.
About M-Pesa: M-PESA is a Kenyan cellphone-to-cellphone cash-transfer service. (The M is for “mobile” and pesa is “cash” in Swahili.) Launched in 2007 by Safaricom Limited, a Kenya-based cellphone service provider, M-PESA was developed by Vodafone Group Private Limited Corporation, a British multinational mobile network operator, as part of its strategy to reach the bottom of the pyramid with new goods and services.
By Diana Baide, Research Assistant
[1] Business Daily. “Equity’s deal with Orange tilts banking landscape” by Mwaura Kimani and Okuttah Mark, 11 November 2010
MicroCapital. “MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Saving Through the Mobile Phone – The Case of M-PESA, by Olga Morawcynski, Published by Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX)” by Matthew Fox, 28 September 2010
MicroCapital. “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Reach Expands in Kenya As Safaricom Capitilizes on Kenyan Government Requirement to Register All Mobile Phone Users” by Matthew Fox, 16 August 2010
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe profile: Equity Bank
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Equity+Bank
MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe profile: M-Pesa
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=M-Pesa
Browse MicroCapital’s Universe and add your entry to the wiki at: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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