Bank Of Africa unveiled its mobile banking platform called Dubbed Mobile Wallet that enable the Bank’s account and non-account holders to send and receive money using their mobile phones and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), respectively.
With this service, a customer registers with Bank of Africa using their mobile phone number as the account number which account they will manage via their mobile phone. This account is, however, independent of any mobile money platform.
The customer will then be required to load money onto his mobile wallet/phone from any of the 34 BOA branches countrywide or ATMs.
When money is sent, the recipient will receive a notification of the transaction showing the amount received and a reference number to be used to withdraw the money from any Bank of Africa ATM.The recipient will be required to call the sender and get the PIN, which must be entered to authorise the withdrawal.
Unlike other banks like Crane which partnered with MTN mobile money and Airtel with Equity this Bank of Africa platform allows the use of ATM without a card.
The platform is entirely independent of any telecommunication networks’ mobile money platforms, despite using mobile phones to send and receive transaction messages.
With this new platform, competition between this bank and telecom companies is expected because telecoms charge higher fees for mobile money transactions, compared to BOA’s average of Shs350 per transaction. Telecoms charge between Shs500 and Shs70,500, depending on the amount being transferred and whether the recipient is a registered user or not.
Unlike mobile money where a fee is charged for both sending and withdrawing, with the BOA Mobile Wallet, it’s only the originator of the transaction who pays the fee, thereby making it the cheapest mobile money option in the market today.
