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Digital banking platform provider Layer has partnered with United Bank for Africa (UBA) to fuel its digital transformation in Kenya.
Layer is a digital transformation platform that enables large financial institutions to improve their customer and back-office digital experiences.
This new partnership will see the company add an additional 18 million users across 25 different countries to its platform. Through its collaboration with Layer, the financial conglomerate will be able to provide banking services in different jurisdictions from one central platform without altering core banking systems. Layer’s proprietary platform enables banks to offer their customers a blend of traditional and neobank capabilities through one single platform that sits on top of core banking systems and connects through open source technology (APIs). UBA has implemented all the capabilities available on the Layer platform, to provide end-to-end digitalisation of their banking services, delivered through a new mobile app and website across 18 markets in 4 different languages.
Layer hopes to accelerate financial inclusion and digital transformation processes across the world through similar partnerships. The digital banking platform currently delivers banking services to over 25 million consumers through its existing collaborations. With the smartphone revolution gathering pace in Sub-Saharan Africa, the digital banking sector on the continent is primed to boom.
While only 4 in 10 people in Kenya have access to smartphones at present, sales are accelerating with Africa expected to account for 7.1% of the total smartphone marketplace by 2023.
This has led to a broader acceptance of digital payments in the country over the last five years, with Kenya’s National Treasury and Planning agency finalising a digital policy to ensure that financial services are digitally connected, according to the draft of the Kenya National Payments System 2021-2025 report.
This data also indicates mobile payments surged 87% between February and October 2020, with 2.8 million new mobile users. Coupled with findings by McKinsey that 46% of bank customers expect to use digital or mobile services more in the post pandemic world, Layer is assisting UBA to position itself to revolutionise the way it does business across Kenya and the African continent by becoming the go-to bank that ensures a seamless experience for staff and customers.
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