Equity unit banks on tech to outpace competitors

Monday, August 20, 2018 — updated on December 10, 2020 - 2 min read

From left: CA director-general Francis Wangusi, Telkom chairman Eddy Njoroge, CA chairman Ngene Gituku and Equity Group MD James Mwangi during the launch of Equity Group fintech subsidiary Finserve Africa, August 20, 2018 in Nairobi. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NMG

By JAMES NGUNJIRI

What you need to know:

The lender Monday said it was banking on the subsidiary as the driver of financial solutions in a landscape where technology is fuelling growth, creating new opportunities and disrupting the way business has traditionally been conducted.
Equity Bank chief executive James Mwangi said fintech was playing a critical role in deepening financial inclusion and democratising service provision.

Finserve Africa Ltd, a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings #ticker:EQTY, will rely on innovation as a key strategy amid fierce competition with competitors as it seeks a slice in the financial technology (fintech) space.

The lender Monday said it was banking on the subsidiary as the driver of financial solutions in a landscape where technology is fuelling growth, creating new opportunities and disrupting the way business has traditionally been conducted.

Equity Bank chief executive James Mwangi said fintech was playing a critical role in deepening financial inclusion and democratising service provision. “Finserve will now be an independent commercial fintech that will provide technology solutions. We have taken a deliberate strategy to make Finserve an independent commercial subsidiary that will focus its efforts on delivering solutions to propel the African economy. Equity Group now becomes one of Finserve’s clients for technology solutions,” said Mr Mwangi during the subsidiary’s official launch yesterday.

Finserve is the firm behind mobile money platform Equitel and will operate as an autonomous enterprise. It has developed two platforms — Jenga Payment Gateway and Jenga Application Programming Interface.

The Jenga Payment Gateway supports businesses in processing payments. The platform makes it easier for businesses with an online presence to give their customers multiple options to pay for goods and services bought online.