Kenya’s Family Bank Ltd. will collaborate with London fintech SimbaPay to launch a transfer service to China with WeChat.
The companies hope to serve an addressable market of 7 million Kenyan businesses, which will have the option to send funds to WeChat Pay from Family Bank’s PesaPap mobile banking service. Nonbank customers can use MPESA to access the transfers.
The Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s WeChat application icon displayed on an Apple Inc. iPhone 5s is reflected on a surface in an arranged photograph in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Tencent, the best performer in Hong Kongs benchmark index since its 2004 listing, plans a share split to boost holdings by individuals after earnings missed estimates on higher costs for its WeChat app. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg
Brent Lewin/Bloomberg
The collaboration is designed to make supply chains smoother. WeChat has more than 1 billion subscribers, and Kenyan traders frequently use WeChat social app to communicate with suppliers.
The integration adds a payment function to go with the social tools, and is another venue for WeChat to extend its growing international payments reach. Kenya has long been a hub of payments innovation, and was an early adopter of mobile money and blockchain to support digital transactions.
The effort to establish rules governing consumers' access to their financial data has been effectively derailed by litigation, moves made by the Trump-era CFPB and JPMorganChase's decision to start charging data aggregators for access to customer data.
Strong loan and deposit growth led to a double-digit increase in revenues and an even bigger jump in profits at the Columbus, Ohio-based regional bank.
Flagstar shareholders approved a plan to merge its holding company into the bank; Huntington tapped a new chief auditor, along with two new business leaders; First Foundation hired a new chief credit officer; and more in this week's banking news roundup.
Approximately three years after the one-time non-depository bought Roscoe (Texas) State Bank, Cornerstone Capital Bancorp agreed to purchase Peoples Bancorp.
Regional banks say their asset quality is solid amid skittish investors. The KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index was largely stable Friday after falling by as much as 7% the day before.
