Safaricom decided to work with KCB Group as their trust account holder for their M-Pesa platform, which could benefit lenders in cheaper deposit deals.
KCB, having partnered with Safaricom in earlier deals, is now the second trust account holder after CBA Group that Safaricom has engaged.
“KCB has a wide branch coverage nationwide and hence our partners will have easy access to deposit funds in their organisation hence improving business efficiency,” said Safaricom in a notice to its staff.
Most Safaricom agents, including several commercial banks in Kenya, can now purchase float from either of the two lenders, for onward sale to agents.
Across the country, M-Pesa has about 135,000 agents, and 26.6 million registered customers, 19 million of them being active users. KCB will now have access to these agents who handle huge amounts of cash every day.
KCB is navigating unchartered territory birthed from the interest capping law. Banks are expected to pay depositors interest, at CBK’s 70% rate, which currently stands at 10%.
Written By Collins Gathogo