Family Bank has revamped its PesaPap mobile app to help its customers borrow, pay bills and transfer money from their accounts to friends and family instantly.
Though the app has been said to target non-customers, activating the app needs one to be a customer therefore non-customers are locked out and the app is just a digital bank for Family Bank customers and not a public financial services app as marketed. Hence, it might not have much impact to the banks books either in terms of loans, users or savings because it doesn’t help the bank attract new customers.
According to the bank, customers will now access instant loans and also set investment goals for periods between 3 to 12 months, earning attractive interest.
“With 65 per cent of our bank transactions now via digital, up from 46 per cent in January 2016 and with an 18 per cent growth in mobile banking in 2017 compared to 9 per cent in 2016, it is our strategic intention and focus to invest more in technology and aggressively drive efficiencies through IT,” said Family Bank’s MD & CEO Dr David Thuku during the launch of the application. “We believe that the revamped PesaPap will meet the increasing demands of the modern-day consumer whilst keeping pace with emerging technology to further deepen financial inclusion,” he added.
PesaPap offers consumers access to instant loan disbursements and repayments, as well as vanilla banking services such as funds transfer to accounts and mobile money wallets, bill payments, airtime purchase, scheduled payments, PesaLink, amongst others.
PesaPap is among the many apps in the market set to serve over 6 million Kenyans with micro-loans within seconds and build credit history that can give them access to higher and cheaper loans in the future.
Dr. Habil Olaka, the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) CEO said, “The mobile phone is no longer just a communication device, it is a tool for enhancing our lives. It is through the adoption of modern financial technology that the banking sector will not only improve its efficiency but also spur economic growth and help alleviate poverty.”
Customers can now register and activate PesaPap without the need to visit any physical bank branch or fill out forms. PesaPap can be accessed by dialing USSD code *325# or by downloading the PesaPap app available on Google Play Store and Apple Store.
