19th September, 2012
NAIROBI; Family Bank has today signed five contracts with regional
card processor and payments services leader, the Paynet Group as part
of its aggressive drive into the market.
The partnership will cover Visa EMV Chip card issuing services, Family
Bank connection to the PesaPoint network and sharing its own ATMs on
the PesaPoint network as well as availability of M-PESA, Visa, China
Union Pay and MasterCard acquiring on Family Bank ATMs. The
announcement was made by the two companies’ in a signing ceremony held
at a Nairobi hotel and follows Paynet Group’s ongoing upgrade of its
card issuing and processing platform- for capacity to issue and
process EMV Chip Cards in Eastern Africa.
“This makes Family Bank the first customer for our EMV Chip card
issuing facility which we are offering as a result of the recent
investment in our card processing platform,” announced Bernard
Matthewman, Paynet Group CEO.
International card companies Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) have
been urging banks in East Africa and other card issuing institutions
to migrate from the easy to counterfeit Magnetic Stripe cards which
feature a black stripe at the back, and instead adopt the EMV chip
cards, which feature higher levels of customer security and all
transactions are PIN authorized.
“Taking the lead with EMV Chip and PIN based transaction authorization
will go a long way in boosting the confidence of our cardholders by
offering a more secure environment for card payments,” said Family
Bank’s CEO, Peter Munyiri. He added that the move would be important
in growing the bank’s returns by minimizing its losses through fraud.
Card fraud perpetrated against the Magnetic stripe cards increased
significantly in East Africa, according to a recent Deloitte report on
security. This has affected cardholders’ confidence in making more
payments using their cards. It is hoped that the introduction of Chip
and PIN based transaction authorization with enhanced security
features will greatly increase customer confidence and usage.
On the award of the bank’s card processing operations to Paynet, Mr
Munyiri noted that it’s strong history of providing reliable payment
services in the region made Paynet the right partner for Family Bank.
In another agreement, Family Bank became the latest bank to join the
PesaPoint network, Kenya’s largest third party ATM payments network.
The PesaPoint network, which also includes KCB, DTB, CfC Stanbic and
NIC banks’ ATMs, will accept cards from Family Bank customers. Said
Matthewman;“Once the service is live, Family Bank customers will be
able to access cash, free balance enquiry, mini statements and pay
bills services at any PesaPoint ATM, POS agents and also at the
clearly branded PesaPoint partner ATMs around the country.” PesaPoint
services such as M-Pesa ATM withdrawal and international card
acceptance will also be implemented at Family bank’s ATMs.
PesaPoint network comprises of over 700 ATMs and 1200 POS based
locations, providing convenient payment services for over 30 financial
institutions in Kenya.
Mr. Munyiri said the deals signed with Paynet Group will give the bank
impetus to achieve new growth objectives whilst ensuring its customers
are served even better with a widespread network of delivery channels
.
“Family Bank is on the move and leveraging the skills and services of
Paynet in these areas of banking is a part of our plan to reach our
potential in the shortest possible time as well as allow our esteemed
customers access to their accounts through the Paynet/PesaPoint and
Visa Payment Networks” added Mr. Munyiri.
Mr Matthewman lauded the over 1.2 million customers – strong lender
for the move saying Family Bank’s ambition to provide the broad range
of payment services would pay off well its customers and the Bank.
Ends.
About Paynet Group
Paynet Group’s card processing, channel management and PesaPoint
payment infrastructure are relied upon by more than 40 banks and
financial institutions in the East Africa region. Its headquarters are
in Nairobi Kenya with operations and customers in Tanzania, Rwanda and
Uganda. Paynet Group composes of Paynet, Electronic Financial
Technologies Limited (EFT) and PesaPoint. For more information please
visit www.paynet.co.ke
About Family Bank
Family Bank was registered as a Building Society in October 1984 in
Kenya, under the Building Societies Act and commenced operations in
the early 1984. Family Bank converted into a fully fledged bank in May
2007 and the main driver for our conversion was the need to offer a
wider range of products and services to all customers.
The Bank is also a member of the Deposit Protection Fund (DPF) meaning
that our customers’ deposits are protected. From only one branch in
1985, the bank has grown to footprint of over 65 branches countrywide.
Since inception, Family Bank has been providing affordable financial
services to the low and medium income earners. Our products and
services are well researched and tailor-made to suit market needs.
Family Bank has pioneered some innovative banking products and
services such Paperless banking; a mobile banking services Pesa Pap!
Which to cater for more customer needs enabling them to transact bank
via their mobile phones like pay their loans, get bank balances and
financial tips on request. We now have MKODI which enables tenant pay
their rents through the phone and M-KANISA which enables church
worshippers pay their tithes and offerings on phone .
Most recently the bank has introduced a revolutionary mortgage product
Growing Home which enables customers build homes with the flexibility
of starting from a single room to a the multi room house eventually .
Family Bank, with you for life.