PESAMOB Mobile Based Virtual Bank from Family Bank – How it Works

Dubbed as a robust mobile based banking platform, Family Bank unveiled PESAMOB – its newest mobile based product that will see customers access a number of banking services including money transfer and micro-loans conveniently on their handsets without necessarily visiting the bank. PESAMOB is expected to increase access to the Family Bank’s financial services by making it easy to open and operate accounts as well as other operation processes currently on its PesaPap platform. PESAMOB which has been tailored to foster financial inclusivity of more than 3 million small and medium enterprises as well as currently unbanked mobile subscribers is expected to propel the success of local banking sector by eliminating conventional banking barriers.

The new mobile based virtual bank product will run on Family Bank’s existing PesaPap platform – an extension of Safaricom’s Mpesa mobile banking system specially designed for the banks customers. During the launch, Family Bank’s CEO Mr. Peter Munyiri said PESAMOB was tailored to provide affordable mobile banking services differentiated from conventional solutions. The latest product will provide a set of banking services to customers including cash deposits, withdrawals over ATM locations as well as access to Family Bank’s micro-loan facilities conveniently, he added. Customers will as well get their salary processing needs done and pay county fees like rates, licenses and rents via the platform.

At the same time, Munyiri acknowledged the development was inspired by increased uptake of mobile based financial services in the country. As of now, there are more than 11 million active mobile based financial services users in Kenya according to industry statistics released earlier in the year. That number had more than doubled compared to 5.1 million active account holders in the local banking sector. Consequently, the number of mobile based financial solutions has doubled from 28 percent in 2009 to 62 percent in 2013, justifying the need of a fully-fledged virtual bank.

Munyiri further added the bank was actively changing the current banking conventions by introducing the likes of PESAMOB. Besides boosting the national financial inclusions goals, Munyiri said PESAMOB will give customers the freedom to access loans, transact as well as save their cash without having to physically going to the banking hall. PESAMOB subscribers will enjoy exclusive standard features such as Mpesa money transfers, airtime purchases, balance enquiries, Mini statements and bill payments. The event was attended by Central Bank of Kenya Governor Prof Njuguna Ndung’u.

How to use PESAMOB

• Account holders only need to dial *325# and follow the prompts via USSD to activate their secure personal virtual bank accounts.