Zain Kenya launches Zap money transfer service

Zain Kenya has finally launched its mobile banking offering, ‘Zap’ after long months of battling for a license with Central Bank of Kenya(CBK).
Kenya’s second largest mobile telecommunications provider announced that it plans to bring mobile banking to over 100 million people in East Africa with the launch of its new service, Zap.

With the most comprehensive and accessible mobile banking features currently available on the continent, Zap will be initially available in Kenya and Tanzania and will shortly launch in Uganda. Zain’s Zap will provide millions of people with access to banking for the very first time.
Zain is partnering with leading international and regional banks including Citigroup and Standard Chartered Bank to launch Zap, which will allow Zain customers in the three countries to use their mobile phone to:
* Pay bills and pay for goods and services
* Receive money and send money to friends and family
* Withdraw cash
* Top up their own airtime account or top up someone else’s
* Send airtime to Zain customers in East Africa
* Manage their bank accounts
The Zap service will also be included as part of the company’s pioneering One Network service, meaning that Zain customers will be able to send airtime to other Zain customers across Kenya , Tanzania and Uganda . One Network allows travelling customers to move across geographic borders without roaming surcharges, recharge their mobile phones with locally purchased top up cards and receive calls for free.
Zap will provide customers with increased security and flexibility, reducing the need to carry cash and ensuring payments between friends and family remain secure. A password is needed for each transaction and the service is protected through a state-of-the-art security application. Customers will also benefit from being able to access the service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through their handset menu and enjoy the convenience of having access to cash anytime, anywhere.
Zain customers can sign-up for free for the new banking and payment services by completing an application form and handing it over to registered Zain agents in towns and cities across East Africa. Zain will then provide the customer with a mobile wallet, which will allow them to use their mobile phone in much the same way as a bank account debit card and manage their money through their handset. The service is supported on all handsets including ultra low cost handsets (ULCH) which Zain is successfully rolling out across the continent.
Zain and its partners are confident that Zap will increase access to banking services in Kenya , Tanzania and Uganda , where formal banking services are largely restricted to urban populations. Eighty per cent of Kenyan’s and ninety-five per cent of Tanzania ‘s and Uganda ‘s population do not have access to banking services.
Dr. Saad Al Barrak, Zain Group’s Chief Executive Officer said: “This represents the latest chapter in our work to push the boundaries of mobile communications. For any market in the world, the combination of services we are providing would be exciting; when set in an African context, the implications are especially profound. With a potential customer base of over 100 million people in Kenya , Tanzania and Uganda , many of whom have never had access to formal financial services, we believe Zap will reshape the future of banking in Africa .”
Zain, in partnership with Citigroup and Standard Chartered Bank, is ensuring that the services meet all the required in country banking regulations as stipulated by the Central Banks for the launch of Zap services. In addition Zain’s banking partners will facilitate payments and settlement processes in accordance with the terms and conditions agreed with the in country banking regulations.
Standard Chartered Bank’s Area Head of Consumer Banking – East Africa, Kariuki Ngari said: “We are extremely excited to be partnering with Zain on this ground-breaking initiative. M-commerce has the potential to transform banking in Africa and will help overcome many of the obstacles presented by providing banking services to remote and rural communities. We’re proud to be working with Zain at the forefront of this mobile banking revolution.”
Sridhar Srinivasan, Global Transaction Services Head, Sub-Saharan Africa, Citi, said: “We are proud to be part of this initiative that will transform the banking environment in Tanzania allowing people to access financial services everywhere. The ZAP offering is a true innovation, extending the reach of financial services to every corner of this country and stimulating the payments system through accessible mobile technology. Our successful partnership with Zain enabling this groundbreaking service is a great testament of our commitment to the economic development of the countries where we operate, by promoting financial inclusion.”
Chris Gabriel, CEO Zain Africa said: “Research has shown that m-banking and m-payments can help lower the transaction costs of money transfer, increase the flow of money by making it easier to send smaller amounts and introduce those without bank accounts to a means of secure financial management. By enabling people to use their mobile phones as mobile wallets, we hope to deliver lasting benefits not just for our customers, but also for the economies of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.”
During the three month pilot phase the service was used by several international companies including Coca Cola who used it to pay their dealers in Tanzania. Using Zap, millions of Zain customers will be able to pay their electricity bills in Kenya and Tanzania. Zain plans to increase the number of services that can be paid for using Zap as part of its aim to transform the use of money in the Africa. As part of its corporate social responsibility programme Zain is funding communication in several remote rural areas which have been designated Millennium Villages across Africa. Using Zap Zain customers and members of the public will be able to make donations to fund the Millennium Villages project. More than 400,000 people live in the Millennium Villages and the Project is investing in them and their communities towards finding a sustainable end to extreme poverty. Members of the public around the world will be able to make donations using Causes on Facebook and Zap to the Millennium Villages. Causes leverages online social networking for offline social change. More than 30 million people around the world use Causes to have an impact on the issues that matter most to them, making it the world’s largest platform for philanthropy and civic engagement.
Zain Kenya Managing Director Rene Meza “We’re extremely excited to pilot this initiative here in Kenya. We believe the benefits to our customers will be immense and that this has the potential to transform the way we handle and manage money in this country. The mobile phone has already improved African life in so many ways – it’s exciting to think it now has the potential to replace notes and coins and give all of our customers access to world-class banking services.” Meza said.
Zain was the first mobile company to introduce phone-to-phone airtime credit transfer service in 2005 (Me2U). Currently over US$10 million worth of airtime transfers take place in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda each month.