Banks take on telcos with two-month free cash transfer

Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) Vice Chairman John Gachora(left) Integrated Payment Services Limited Chief Executive Jennifer Theuri(centre) and KBA Chief Executive Habil Olaka(right) review the functionality PesaLink, a digital payments platform that is expected to cut the cost of transactions and transform the way consumers interact with their banks. (Photo: Wilberforce Okwiri/Standard)

Banks have officially launched their money transfer platform with free transactions between customers in the first two months in a move likely to hot up competition for the telecoms.

Rolled out in mid-February on a pilot phase, Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), the umbrella body for licensed banks, says that the switch, called PesaLink, has transacted more than Sh2.5 billion in the last four months as more customers signed up.