“Western Union is pleased to strengthen this mutually productive and beneficial relationship with the inclusion of electronic banking channels that are customer-centric and technologically advanced.” Jean-Claude Farah, Senior vice president Western Union, Middle East and Africa.

In a move that will further cement their relationship, Western Union and Ecobank launched a money transfer service dubbed Account Based Money Transfer (ABMT) in Kenya. This comes at a time when Kenya has received recognition from World Bank for providing fertile ground for adaptation of international remittance services via mobile phones. Essentially, it is a double victory for the country.

The use of money transfer services in the country has increased, with mobile money transfers surpassing the KES 1 trillion mark. As such, it makes sense for the pilot phase to be conducted in Kenya. Successful implementation of ABMT in Kenya will see the bank offer the service across its coverage of 31 countries in Africa. Key to the product’s success is the internet use in Kenya which fortunately for them, is on the rise.

According to CCK statistics, the estimated internet users have increased to 14 million, an increase by 18.5% in the quarter from March 30, 2012 and June 30, 2012. An article from HumanIpo indicates that the figure is representative of an annual increase of 11.9%.

Ecobank customers will be able to access the Western Union service via internet banking, their ATMs and kiosks in the Ecobank network. Money can be deposited into their accounts from any of the 2600 agent locations across Africa. Should continental coverage not suffice, the over 510,000 Western Union agents around the world will cover the deficit.

Western Union has – albeit arguably – as much as, if not wider reach than M-PESA. Ecobank customers therefore have a chance to receive money from areas where most would have to pay high transaction costs, but at a cheaper rate. As for their capacity, in 2011 Western Union completed 226 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide.

The amount of money transferred for customers inter-se was US $81 billion (KES 6.9 Trillion) and $425 million (KES 34.4 Billion) business payments.