Paynet Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bernard Matthewman says the platform offers potential for growth and will extend the range of services offered by PesaPoint/FILE
Pep Intermedius, one of Kenya’s leading agent aggregators, has been running an exclusive chain of over 150 agent outlets offering mobile money and agency banking services -including agents outlets at all the 40 Nakumatt stores countrywide.
Paynet Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bernard Matthewman says the platform offers potential for growth and will extend the range of services offered by PesaPoint.
“We want to grow our agent size, and we want to ensure that we continuously strengthen our agent preposition. We want to get as much business from a single agent as we can, and by adding in the different types of services together we will see better volumes per agent,” he said.
Matthewman said the merged agents network would take advantage of the huge growth and demand for financial services touch points and deliver to Kenyans multiple products and services through a single agent network.
“We have the technology to power innovations in Point Of Sale (POS), and mobile POS based agent services for banks, financial services providers and mobile money providers whilst Pep Intermedius manages one of the most advanced agency networks. Our merger with them will bring the right combination of expertise to build and manage the most successful multi-stakeholder agent network for PesaPoint in the country,” he said.
On his part Pep Intermedius CEO Frederik Eijkman, said the multiple services through one channel will bring more value to the individual agent or shop owner and will provide a one-stop shop for customers who for example need to do a number of transactions such as access to cash from cards or mobile money and pay bills or buy airtime.
“Like a financial supermarket we will bring the broadest possible range of services to consumers including mobile money, agency banking, bill payment, airtime sales, ticketing, lotteries and even micro insurance,” he said.
Eijkman added that with the merger, the distribution of financial services will further enhance economic and social development.
Eijkman will head the new PesaPoint agent network with all other management staff remaining the same.
The merger now places the PesaPoint network among the largest mobile money and agent banking networks in Kenya with more than 1,500 agent outlets, positioning it for strong multi-institutions partnership with banks, financial service providers and mobile money providers.
Currently, PesaPoint runs a multi-stakeholder ATM network that serves about 13 million customers from 32 financial institutions and two mobile money networks (M-PESA and Airtel Money) with about 1,350 existing PesaPoint Agent locations which vend airtime and card cash-out services.
PesaPoint was the first independent Automated Teller Machine (ATM) network in Kenya and connects customers to card services from various banks at low cost, provides card-less transactions for mobile money users, vends electronic airtime for all telecommunications networks and provides ATM bill payments and revenue collection service for multiple billers.
More recently, PesaPoint developed an agent network based initially on POS technology that runs in parallel with its pervasive ATM network.
