Equity Bank’s shares have started rising steadily after it applied for a licence from the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) for a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO), which will guarantee it rights to share infrastructure with any operator to launch its own mobile telephone services. Equity is likely to use yuMobile’s infrastructure according to some industry sources.
Though today’s 0.79 increase from 31.75 to 32.0 doesn’t mean much, analysts say the firms shares are set to plummet and even more if Equity Bank is granted the license. Equity Bank’s application is still with the National Intelligence Service (NIS) undergoing for scrutiny before the CCK decides whether to award the bank a telco licence or not.
Before Safaricom’s popularity, Equity Bank used to be the king of financial services in the country and was the most innovative institution in the land. It had a branch in almost every shopping center. Then the launch of M-Pesa in 2007 just made things worse as instead of going to the bank, people began going to M-Pesa agents.