Every single mobile service provider in Kenya offers a mobile payment service. Safaricom are the pioneerās in this segment with their M-Pesa platform. The other Telcoās saw how impressive this technology was and adapted it or their own subscribersā lest they lose them to their competitor Safaricom. Airtel came up with Airtel Money and Orange launched the Orange Money platform. Yu, though long forgotten, had their Yu Cash platform.
One barrier that exists is that it is not possible to transfer funds across the different mobile money services directly. To do this you have to employ the services of third parties but that is a topic for another day.
Then Equitel happened. Equitel is a mobile transfer service from Equity bank that rides on the Airtel Infrastructure. By contracting Airtelās Infrastructure they are able to save on costs. One thing to note is that all Equitel sim cards are linked to the respective individuals Equity bank account. This simply means you can transact on the Equitel account just as you would with a normal bank account.
How to send money to any Mobile Money
- Head over to Equitel Menu
- Select My Money
- Select Send/Pay
- Select Account
- Select To Others
- Then select preferred Mobile Money Provider
- Enter the recipientās Phone Number
- Enter Amount to send
- Then you will be prompted to Confirm Details
- In the next dialog you will be required to Enter your Equitel Pin
- After that you will receive Confirmation SMS
Thatās all it takes ladies and gentlemen. With Equitel you can send funds to your friends, family or associates using any other mobile money provider in the country. It would be also convenient if the other mobile money providers adapted this cross platform transfer of funds especially Safaricom which boosts of a wide subscriber base. Though it is worth noting that it is possible to transfer funds from Airtel Money to M-Pesa. But dear Airtel Limited, M-Pesa is not the only mobile wallet. We wish diversity. It would be in order if you also incorporated the other mobile wallets.
