EQUITY Bank, whose micro-loans offerings have helped increase the number of Kenyans using formal financial services, is looking to break into Kenya's booming mobile telecoms market, with the bank saying it will use the Mobile Virtual Network Operator licence it was granted in April to make financial services even more accessible and affordable. Kenyans transacted US$19.6 billion through their mobile phones in the first 11 months of 2013 alone, and Equity is looking to tap into this growing base by employing innovative Taiwanese-made ultra-slim subscriber identity module (SIM) cards.
The 0.1mm-thick SIM cards sit on top a user's existing SIM, allowing subscribers to access voice and mobile money services from two competing operators without having to own a dual-SIM phone or have two handsets. This technology has been opposed by Safaricom, which leads the field in Kenya in both mobile subscribers and mobile money in the form of its M-PESA service. Safaricom has said the technology puts users at risk of fraud and wants the bank to be prohibited from issuing the cards.
Safaricom has been successful in blocking the issuance for the cards for now. The Communications Authority of Kenya says Equity Bank must start operations using normal SIM cards until it has received expert advice on the ultra-slim technology. The regulator is awaiting the opinion of...Continue reading
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