Equity Bank, Kenya’s largest in terms of customers’ base, has been named the 2016 most innovative Bank while its Equitel money service scooped the best mobile banking service at this year’s Banker Africa, East Africa Awards, held in Nairobi.
Presenting the awards CEO of CPI Financial, Robin Amlôt, applauded Equitel as the best mobile banking platform with its exponential growth since inception.
Equity Bank Director of Corporate and SME Banking Rohit Kumar Singh said winning the Most Innovative Bank and the Best Mobile Banking awards for the second year in a row is a great achievement: “These two awards motivate us to be more innovative and to scale up our offering to meet our customer needs,” he said.
Central Bank of Kenya Chairman Jairus Mohammed Nyaoga noted that the East Africa region was leading 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,” he said.
With Equitel, money transfer from one mobile phone or bank account to another within the Equity ecosystem is done free of charge, making it the most convenient and affordable money transfer platform.
It brings the full mobility to banking by simplifying the payments and transactions process and has reduced the cost of mobile and banking services – which enables greater financial inclusion and access for many Kenyans.
The platform eliminates the need for mobile applications in accessing internet banking as even a simple feature phone works. Equitel customers can also access loans like Eazzy Loan and ‘Eazzy Plus Loan’ where they can now borrow up to Ksh3 million payable within 12 months.
