Standard Chartered Bank Kenya has become the first commercial bank in Kenya to launch a bond traded exclusively through mobile phone.
Through the SC Mobile App, clients will buy or sell local currency government bonds and treasury bills without the hustle of visiting a branch to fill in forms.
The clients will also be able to view the list of available securities to be traded through the SC Mobile App for the trading day, transaction history for previous deals submitted, and learn more about local government bonds trading through its educational page.
Investing in Your Palms
“Today we have added another first to our digital banking innovation as we continue to expand our digital offering across our banking spectrum,” Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Head of Wealth Management, Paul Njoki said.
”We are happy that this launch will go along away in supporting the Government quest for financial inclusion.”
Standard Chartered mobile bond makes it the second entity to launch mobile traded bonds and bills after the Kenya Government launched the world’s first Treasury bond in 2015.
The bond is offered exclusively via mobile phone to stimulate public participation in the capital markets, raise money cheaply and boost the national savings rate.
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In January this year, the Kenya government through Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) rolled out another mobile-based service dubbed CBK-TMD, which enables users to place applications/bids for Treasury Bills and Treasury Bonds, receive auction results, notifications for payments, query their CDS accounts, and Treasury Bills and Bonds on offer.
The CBK bond investors earn a tax-free 10 percent interest, which is higher than the 9.19 percent paid by the one-year Treasury bill, which also attracts a withholding tax on the interest.
Minimum investment
The minimum investment amount for the Standard Chartered mobile bond has a face value of Ksh100,000 while the maximum is capped at Ksh10 million.
“Client journey is completely paperless for trades less than Ksh10 million and we believe that the minimum amount will appeal to a larger number of clients,” Mr Njoki said.
