Equity thin SIM card hits market in 2 weeks
What you need to know:
- “No one can stop consumers from acquiring the thin SIM. It will be an open banking system, you can use it to send money to any bank account in the country and will be interconnected with the diaspora community,” Dr Mwangi said.
- An estimated 200,000 consumers had acquired the normal Equitel SIM card being piloted, he said.
- The bank’s bid to launch its services on the thin SIM technology has been countered on many fronts among them the parliamentary committee on energy and communications and the Consumer Federation of Kenya.
Equity Bank Wednesday said it would start distributing its thin SIM cards in two weeks, telling critics to leave the decision to consumers.
The cards had arrived in Nairobi and would be made available to subscribers by the end of October, chief executive James Mwangi said.
Dr Mwangi said criticisms against the new technology were baseless and founded on fear of competition.
The new thin SIM card technology has been opposed vehemently by Safaricom, the dominant player in the country’s mobile money market, on grounds that its use could expose its M-Pesa customers to possible fraud.
“No one can stop consumers from acquiring the thin SIM. It will be an open banking system, you can use it to send money to any bank account in the country and will be interconnected with the diaspora community,” Dr Mwangi said.
An estimated 200,000 consumers had acquired the normal Equitel SIM card being piloted, he said.
Equity is rolling out the telecommunication services through its subsidiary Finserve Limited.
The bank’s bid to launch its services on the thin SIM technology has been countered on many fronts among them the parliamentary committee on energy and communications and the Consumer Federation of Kenya.
CARD ROLL-OUT APPROVED
The latest is a suit filed in court by a Mr Bernard Murage, who claims to be an Equity customer, objecting to the use of the technology.
Mr Murage wants the High Court to block the roll-out of the mobile banking service, arguing that the financier has not provided any assurance to its clients on the safety of the thin SIM card technology.
The Communications Authority of Kenya and Central Bank of Kenya approved the roll-out of the card on a one year pilot basis, during which its security would be closely monitored.
