By Macharia Kamau
Western Union has tapped its advantage in handling remittances from Kenyans living abroad, under a new partnership with Zain Kenya. Under the agreement unveiled yesterday, the two firms will allow the Kenyans living in Africa and the Middle East to send money to their kin via their handsets using Zap, the international mobile money transfer and banking service owned by Zain. The move could make up slightly for loss of local market share by Western Union to Safaricom’s M-Pesa service. The Standard reported last week that PostaPay, Western Union and Moneygram had lost a significant chunk of their market share in local money transfers to M-Pesa. The partnership between Zain and Western Union is, however, limited to transfers among the 24 countries in Africa and Middle East, where Zain operates.
Much of the money remitted into the country originates from Western Europe and North America. "This service will enable people working and living abroad to send money home safely and fast to their friends and families, not only in the cities, but also directly to the villag-es," said Dr Saad Al Barrak chief executive Zain Group. The agreement will enable people to send money from participating Western Union locations around the world, in the same way they do today.
A Changing Landscape
On the receiving end, subscribers to Zap in selected countries will be able to choose whether the means through which to receive the money, either at a Western Union Agent or in accounts tied to their mobile phones. "The ability to move money with a mobile phone is changing the landscape of financial services and we look forward to connecting Western Union’s global network with the Zap platform to extend services throughout Africa," said Gail Galuppo executive vice president and chief marketing officer Western Union. The agreement will give Zain Kenya a chance to tap into the lucrative remittances market that sees billions sent into the country every year. Traditional money transfer services have been the dominated this market in the past. Remittances by Kenyans living abroad have steadily grown over the years, to becoming one of top foreign currency earners for the country.
Statistics from the Central Bank of Kenya show the total amount remitted to Kenya stood at Sh48 billion.
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