Equity Bank sends signal on its entry into telecoms in New Year

Equity Bank Group has sent out yet another strong signal that it will advance its bid to offer mobile banking services to its customers in the New Year.

In a season’s greetings message, Equity Bank Group CEO James Mwangi affirms that 2014 was a good 30th anniversary year that saw the bank expand its interests to the mobile telephony sector.

In what he describes as a major breakthrough, Mwangi in a thinly veiled message confirms that the firm’s mobile virtual network operation under the Equitel Brand Name had been strategically conceptualised and set up to promote mobile banking services. “In 2014, we made a major breakthrough with Equitel to give our customers, freedom, choice and control,” Mwangi says of the MVNO network that is currently conducting its pilot tests.

The Equitel roll out strategy was first announced last May as part of the Equity Bank’s third generation corporate growth strategy dubbed equity 3.0 strategy.

Under the strategy, Equitel will simply mirror all of Equity Bank’s banking services into the mobile phone. By linking the account to the mobile phone, customers can apply for loans, move money into and from their bank accounts and pay bills. In addition, through Equity banks’ multi-channel connectivity, customers will be able to carry out cross border transactions from their mobile phones. They will receive international remittances onto their accounts and access through their mobile phone numbers, Equity Agents, ATMs or branches.