Business

Nov292018 by Lynn WandiaNo Comments

Fintech Disruptive Moves Threaten Kenyan banks-McKinsey

McKinsey & Company has warned that Kenyan banks risk being crowded out of the daily payments and commerce space in financial intermediation by agile and innovative financial technology (fintech) companies and must act urgently to protect their turf, global consultancy. “In devising their strategies, banks could focus on owning the next generation payments landscape (for example contactless, QR, e-commerce etc) and building an ecosystem of value added services to recapture share in everyday commerce and transactions,” said Tawanda Sibanda, a partner at McKinsey. “Banks could also move first to serve the long-tail of underserved small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the market through entirely digital offerings.” The firm says, in its eighth annual review of the global bankin

Nov212018 by Alex ReeceNo Comments

Cloud-based security solutions will power cyber security in 2019

Business, Cyber Security, Technology

Based on interactions with organisations, a technology firm has released key trends for 2019 in the area of cyber security space. Matt Gyde, Group Executive (Cybersecurity) of Dimension Data, identifies five key trends that will empower the space. According to him, the trust will go digital as the technology helps organisations to embrace Digital Trust model, moving away from the present Zero Trust (don't trust anything, any person inside or outside the organisation) model. "In 2019, Zero trust is maturing into digital trust. IT will leverage ‘digital fingerprints’ for smoother authentication of users and provide them with easier access to apps and information," he says. "Identity-as-a-Service, user authentication, identity and access management are expected to be the largest segmen

Nov62018 by Lynn WandiaNo Comments

MPesa and Western Union partner to facilitate easier overseas cash remittance

Business, Mobile

In a new deal signed this Tuesday, Safaricom and Western Union have partnered to make cash transfers overseas easier for MPesa users at a cost between a minimum of Sh100 for a transaction of up to Sh5,000 and Sh500 for remitting offshore more than Sh35,000, Safaricom said. The partnership will see the more than 21 million of the globally-acclaimed mobile money service subscribers send a maximum of KES70,000 daily to family, friends and business partners abroad through the 500,000 plus Western Union’s agents in close to 200 countries. Western Union’s regional vice president for Southern, East and Anglophone West Africa Richard Malcom said, “This is real a game-changer, a first one in the world for us,” Mr Malcom said. “Kenyans who have children studying abroad can now send them money

Nov22018 by editorNo Comments

Egypt’s competition watchdog warns Uber and Careem could face up to $28 million in fines each for merger

Business, Mobile

Egypt’s competition watchdog has warned Uber and Careem once again against the merger. The regulator, Egyptian Competition Authority, had first warned the two companies last month against a merger amid rumors about acquisition and merger talks between them. But this time, the authority has gone a step further and said that they could slap fines of up to 500 million EGP ($28 million) per infringement on each person relevant person (read: party) involved in the deal. Dr. Amir Nabil, Chairman of the Egyptian Competition Authority, in a statement issued last week, said, “Uber and Careem are the only ride-hailing applications available in Egypt. Any anticompetitive interaction or harmonization of their business strategies including agreement to merge has the potential to cause serious and ir

Oct242018 by editorNo Comments

Nairobi-based lending startup Tala gets an undisclosed strategic funding from Paypal

Business, Startups

PayPal Inc Holdings Inc has made an unspecified strategic investment in Tala, a financial technology startup that lends to underserved consumers in emerging markets, the companies said on Monday reports Reuters. Based in Santa Monica, California, Tala lends to individuals in Kenya, Tanzania, the Philippines, and Mexico through its smartphone app. The company has lent more than $500 million to customers and has more than 300 employees around the world. It is among a growing cohort of new entrants in finance that take advantage of digital technologies to service individuals that have been excluded by the traditional banking sector because they were considered too risky or too unprofitable to serve. To service these consumers, Tala analyzes device and behavioral data to underwrite th...