It is Friday evening, the last week of the month and you have been waiting for payday so patiently. The day is finally here and you checked with accounts to make sure transfers were done on Tuesday. Whatever the circumstance, the money is in the account. You did not bother to check because you know for sure, the money is there. You call up two of your boys to meet at a favorite joint in an hours time to catch up on the months activities. The money has checked in, you know that. Its 5.30pm and banks are closed.
There is a staggering KES 350 in your wallet and a few coins in the cup holder in your car. You always throw them in there because you do not really need coins. The money has checked in. So you drive the short distance up to the fuel station, the Toyota Carina running on E, Enough to get me to the station, you reckon. You will withdraw money from the ATM at the station, fill up the tank and hit the road, it is Friday.
At the station, you park wrongly, throw out a few rude words at the attendant instructing him to put in KES 4,000 worth of fuel as you walk to the ATM to withdraw. The money has checked in. It is now 6.30pm, overcast and it will pour any time soon. But that is least of your worries. It is Friday and it is end month. In the small booth, you feed details and wait, your heart thumping, excitedly. Then, rudely, the box spits your card, without telling you anything. You insert it again and it behaves the same way. The heart thumping gets so loud you fear the pump attendant a few meters away can hear it.
Your Banks’ ATM machines are down. Your car has been filled up and your boys are waiting. The coins in your car’s cup holder have to count today.
Mobile banking
Bank account to mobile service comes to your rescue at such and other tricky times when you walk to your ATM in time of need and find it blankly staring at you. When you have a mobile money account linked to your bank account, you will easily move money from your bank account to your phone and withdraw the cash at an alternative ATM (which accepts Mobile money withdrawal) or a mobile money agent available.
Charges
As opposed to the standard ATM charges, transferring money from some bank accounts to the mobile phone would cost you more than an ATM withdrawal would. Cooperative Bank‘s account to mobile transfer for instance, costs you KES 30 and an M-Pesa withdrawal fee of KES 25 and KES 30 at an agent and ATM respectively.
NIC Bank and KCB bank do not charge any fee on mobile banking transactions. This means, you will only incur M-Pesa withdrawal charges (KES 25 and KES 30 at an agent and ATM respectively).