Kingdom Bank, a subsidiary of the Co-operative Bank of Kenya, has launched an innovative solution aimed at easing payments for micro, small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs).
The solution entails using till numbers, pay bill or USSD code for small businesses such as landlords, mama mboga’s, barbers, salons and mali mali shops.
The solution can also be used in other businesses or institutions receiving payments such as hospitals, schools, and churches.
The lender says that by using the solution, businesses will be able to attain loan limits depending on the payment history.
The system, which the lender affirms to be secure, convenient and flexible, promises to save businesspeople from cash collection system which makes them spend the best time of their day in the business collecting the cash, securing it by depositing it in their bank accounts or in their banks withdrawing cash to fund supplies.
“This routine means that you allocate very little time to aspects of the business that can drive growth such as looking for new orders, answering customer concerns and queries or securing cheaper sources of supplies. This means that your business will not grow as fast as you would want,” the lender says.
The bank’s M-collection solution frees the entrepreneurs’ time from the routine of collecting cash and issuing ‘change,’ because customers use their mobile phones to pay for goods and services directly to the entrepreneur’s bank account.
The bank says this offers flexibility and affordability to small businesses in all sectors and levels of growth.
“The M-collection solution does more than just free the entrepreneur’s time. It is also convenient for the entrepreneur as the cash paid by the customers is deposited to his or her account where they can access it immediately by the touch of a button. The convenience comes at zero cost for entrepreneurs as it has no charges thus making it affordable for entrepreneurs at every level of business,” the lender adds.
Besides, the solution allows customers to make payments for goods and services through multiple methods. For micro-enterprises such as landlords, mama mboga’s, barbers, salons and mali mali shops, customer payments can be made through the bank’s short code or till numbers while small to medium-sized businesses such as hospitals, schools, and churches can receive payments from customers through pay bill numbers.
The icing on the cake is that the collections are not just in the bank waiting for the entrepreneurs to make their withdrawal transactions. Frequent use of the collection solution contributes to the entrepreneur’s transaction history which will enable them to access mobile loans from the bank through *344#.
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