CDSC is turning to e-mail to save the Sh9 million annually incurred to mail monthly and annual statements to active traders of shares and corporate bonds.
An average of 40,000 paper statements are mailed out monthly and a further 500,000 statements at the end of every year.
Digital statements are deemed faster and come at a time when the CDSC is about to unveil intraday trading in August.
Kenya’s securities clearing house has announced plans to go paperless in a year’s time and phase out hard copy statements sent to investors at the Nairobi bourse, in a bid to eliminate postage cost.
Central Depository and Settlement Corporation (CDSC) chief executive Rose Mambo said the agency is turning to e-mail to save the Sh9 million annually incurred to mail monthly and annual statements to active traders of shares and corporate bonds.
An average of 40,000 paper statements are mailed out monthly and a further 500,000 statements at the end of every year, the CDSC told the Business Daily.
“Dear investor, kindly note that future statements will be sent via email and not postal addresses. Please contact your stockbroker or investment bank to update your email address and mobile number,” CDSC said in notices to investors.
The securities settlement firm mails a statement every month to investors who have traded within a 30-day period and also sends an annual statement of accounts to all investors whose accounts have been active in the last two years.
There were 1.61 million investor accounts as at December 2016, according to data from the CDSC, meaning the postage bill would be higher if more trades take place such as when there is a public offering or rights issue.
Digital statements are deemed faster and come at a time when the CDSC is about to unveil intraday trading in August.
The move to adopt electronic statements follows in the footsteps of banks and utility firms such as Kenya Power #ticker:KPLC and Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company.
The shift is, however, a blow to loss-making Posta, which has been under pressure from electronic mail and private couriers.
Ms Mambo said the agency targets to go fully paperless once 70 per cent of all account holders update and adopt the email service. Currently, 30 per cent of Nairobi bourse investors receive their statements via e-mail, the CDSC said.
“For now we are alerting investors. We shall be guided by the number of email addresses we have in the system, which should be above 70 per cent of the statements being sent out,” she said.
The CDSC also reckons that Kenya’s growing uptake of smartphones and access to the Internet means most investors have already adopted practices such as online trading of shares.
The number of Kenyans accessing the Internet was recorded at 39.6 million users as at December 2016, translating to an internet penetration of 89.7 per cent, according to official data.
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