Barclays Bank of Kenya MD Jeremy Awori with Safaricom’s Enterprise Business Unit GM Sylvia Mulinge when the two institutions unveiled a mobile banking service at the Serena Hotel August 1, 2013. The service will enable corporate clients to disburse bulk payments such as salaries, dividend payments, per diem allowances and pension payments to various beneficiaries through the mobile phone. Photo/DIANA NGILA
What you need to know:
Barclays is targeting corporate clients for payments such as salaries, dividend, per diem allowances and pension and will benefit from the Sh80 fee it is charging per transaction while Safaricom expects to gain from withdrawal charges.
The maximum amount Barclays can disburse to M-Pesa accounts is Sh70,000 pegged on the mobile money transfer limits with consumers paying the normal M-Pesa withdrawal rates, which range from Sh10 to Sh330.
Barclays Bank of Kenya has inked a partnership with Safaricom that will allow bulk payments from the lender to M-Pesa accounts in a transfer that bypasses rival banks.
Barclays is targeting corporate clients for payments such as salaries, dividend, per diem allowances and pension and will benefit from the Sh80 fee it is charging per transaction while Safaricom expects to gain from withdrawal charges.
The maximum amount Barclays can disburse to M-Pesa accounts is Sh70,000 pegged on the mobile money transfer limits with consumers paying the normal M-Pesa withdrawal rates, which range from Sh10 to Sh330.
Bulk payments done by Barclays are sent to individual banks accounts, which allow rival lenders to earn fees from processing the transfer and withdrawal charges including through ATMs.
Jeremy Awori, MD Barclays Bank of Kenya, said research shows that more people are adopting mobile money transfer options due to convenience that has improved access to financial services in Kenya from as low as 20 per cent to more than 50 per cent.
“It will now be possible for our business customers to pay a large number of people through our mobile bulk money transfer by simply submitting their names and mobile phone numbers to us,” Mr Awori said Thursday.
M-Pesa revenues have grown from Sh0.37 billion in 2008 to the current Sh21.8 billion by March.
