Cooperative Bank has partnered with SimbaPay a digital money transfer provider to offer international money transfer services to the bank’s customers in the Diaspora.
According to the World Bank, Kenyans abroad currently send home an estimated $2.5 billion annually making remittances Kenya’s largest foreign exchange earner. Cooperative is therefore looking to seize the opportunity as the industry forecasts huge foreign remittances in the near future.
Through the partnership, Co-operative Bank accounts receiving the funds will be credited instantly. The service is currently available for the UK-Kenya remittance corridor only and will be expanded to cover more countries soon.
Nyasinga Onyancha, CEO for SimbaPay commented “Our customers who already bank with Cooperative Bank or have friends and family using Cooperative Bank will be glad to see their transfers being credited instantly.” He added that “It’s a great milestone for banking innovation in Africa when we see a leading Tier 1 bank like Cooperative Bank working closely with a FinTech disruptor such as SimbaPay to deliver a dramatically-enhanced product.”
How it works;
To send money via SimbaPay, Kenyans living in the UK with a bank account, debit card or credit card simply need to download the SimbaPay app from the Apple AppStore or Google Play and proceed to make money transfers straight from any mobile phone, tablet or computer.
For ease of use, all 143 Co-op Bank branches have been pre-loaded on to the SimbaPay platform which eliminates the need for customers having to remember branch codes. At the time of making a money transfer transaction using SimbaPay, users/senders will be required to select the branch of the recipient account and then enter the amount.
In cases where a branch name is not known, the SimbaPay access to M-Pesa Pay Bill option can be used; this option requires only the Co-op Bank account number.