Paynet to sponsor Kenya Banking & Mobile Money Conference

MOBILE

By Carole Kimutai, Nairobi, Kenya

Paynet Group will this year yet again sponsor the prestigious AITEC Banking & Mobile Money COMESA Conference, to take place over 7-8 March at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) in Nairobi.

A staunch promoter of inter-banking industry cohesion, CEO Bernard Matthewman said he was proud of the milestones achieved so far by the banking industry; noting that the Paynet Group continued to help banks cut costs and enhance their electronic payments to millions of clients.  

“It’s a defining time for the banking and mobile money industry in East Africa and the wider COMESA region; we are sponsoring the conference to support a unique opportunity for players in this industry to meet and share experiences. It is critical for all of us to keep up to date, which makes the conference something industry participants cannot afford to miss.”

The AITEC Banking & Mobile Money COMESA conference is the largest banking and mobile money event in the East African and COMESA bloc and is organised in conjunction with the COMESA Business Council (CBC) by AITEC Africa. 

This year, the conference hopes to attract over 1,000 participants drawn from the senior echelons of commercial banks, mobile money providers, and regional integration organizations like the East Africa Business Council. Some of the world’s leading banking technology developers and vendors have also confirmed participation.

According to AITEC Chairman Sean Moroney, who is programme director for the event, a key focus of the conference will be the looming reality of monetary integration, an extension of a debate involving central bankers from Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania and a  development that will impact the banking business and regional trade significantly.

In the main conference theatre, presentations by speakers will review trends in commercial and retail banking, innovations in banking technology and mobile money, new banking channels, products and services, among other topics.

Paynet Group’s renewal of the sponsorship effectively means that it retains for the sixth time the title of platinum sponsorship of this event.

The group is composed of PesaPoint, Paynet Kenya and EFT Kenya and provides payment services to banks and mobile money providers in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.

PesaPoint is available at more than 550 ATMs and 1,200 POS locations throughout Kenya and has been at the centre of integration with mobile money players like M-Pesa and Airtel Money

A recent survey indicated that even though banks are increasingly taking to infrastructure sharing, they still continue to lose hundreds of millions of shillings every year by investing unnecessarily on ATMs and devices at point of sale locations.

“The market is typified by expensive duplication of infrastructure by banks and mobile money organizations and it is becoming clear that this approach is not viable if they wish to drive down costs,” said Mr. Matthewman adding that most players are now reacting to this and are beginning to share their infrastructure and strive towards greater efficiency. “At the heart of this is collaboration and co-operation- something we see the AITEC Banking& Mobile Money COMESA conference as helping to foster,” he said.

Internet Solutions (IS) Limited, a leading corporate managed internet service provider, is also a Platinum Sponsor of the event, which hopes to bring together more than a hundred banks and banking related institutions from the region and beyond.