Equity Bank has been named the most innovative Bank in East Africa 2016 for the second year in a row. The company’s Mobile Banking service Equitel was also awarded the best mobile banking service during this year’s Banker Africa, East Africa Awards held in Nairobi.
Speaking after receiving the award, Equity Bank Director of Corporate and SME Banking Rohit Kumar Singh said the win was a great achievement for Equity Bank. “These two awards, motivates and encourages us to be more innovative and to scale up our offering to meet our customer needs.”
The Central Bank of Kenya Chairman Jairus Mohammed Nyaoga who was also present during the awards noted that the East Africa region was scaling high in the banking sector in many ways. “It is in Kenya that we first experienced mobile banking and it is here that it continues to rule the world from. In East Africa innovations such as agency banking are bringing banking service to the most remote regions and to our citizens that need them. This phenomenon has taken financial inclusion in our region to new heights.”
The Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) Report 2015 notes that during the last quarter of the year, the number of mobile money transfer subscriptions was recorded at 26.7 million subscriptions whereas the number of active mobile money transfer agents stood at 141,542 at the end of the quarter. Mobile commerce also recorded a total of 138.6 million transactions with 275.8 billion Kenya Shillings being used to pay for goods and service.
This is a clear indication that mobile money innovation is contributing to economic empowerment in the country.
