Kenya: Kenswitch and Absa Customers in Kenya to Use ATMs Interchangeably

Kenswitch and Absa have announced a partnership that will see the two financial service companies’ customers access services interchangeably.

The two partners say that this will allow additional access to banking services, according to Techweez.

“We are delighted to welcome ABSA to the Kenswitch network. The addition of ABSA to our network is a significant milestone toward our core objective of ensuring interoperable real-time payments across all banking channels,” Kenswitch Chairman Yousef Bazian said.

“This continued growth reaffirms our commitment to increasingly providing value to our customers and deepening financial inclusion,” Bazian added.

Kenswitch currently has more than 10 million members. It also provides over 2 200 ATMs, more than 20 000 Agency Banking outlets, and over 15 000 merchant POS outlets. Furthermore, it works with 26 member banks that are connected to its local networks.

“Scaling our financial services through our strategic partner Kenswitch expands customer access to our banking solutions across the country,” Absa Bank Kenya Managing Director, Jeremy Awori, said.

“The majority of Kenyans, roughly 70% of the total population, also live in rural areas. As a result, this collaboration strengthens our banking network and makes Absa products and services more accessible, which is an important part of our customer obsession agenda,” he said.

Kenswitch Managing Director Karimi Ithau said the partnership is in line with the Central Bank of Kenya’s National Payments Strategy which seeks to provide customers with seamless, secure and convenient, and wider access to banking services.

“This initiative is designed to create a shared platform for financial services provision that is convenient, reliable, secure and that seeks to provide wider access to financial services to ABSA customers and also to other member bank customers within our network,” Ithau said.