Orange to offer mobile money transfer services

Kenyans are set to get a fourth choice in mobile money transfer services, with the expected Orange branded product.

Telkom Kenya, the owners of the Orange brand, says it is only waiting for the Central Bank of Kenya’s approval before rolling out the product.

“The necessary documentation to facilitate the approval of the service by the (CBK) Governor has also been submitted and we are waiting for clearance,” Telkom Kenya chief executive officer, Mr Mickael Ghossein, told the Nation.

Orange, the country’s third mobile operator, is the only one that has not been offering the service among the four mobile telephone companies currently in operation.

Essar Kenya Ltd, which is the proprietor of the yu brand, launched its yuCash last month, joining a field long dominated by Safaricom’s M-Pesa and Zain Kenya’s Zap.

Mr Ghossein said launching the service, which is ready, is their key priority and is earmarked for unveiling in June.

The announcement comes a few days after CBK alluded to the applications in its recently released annual report for the Fiscal Year 2008/09.

“Numerous other service providers have approached the bank seeking permission to roll out mobile money transfer services and it is evaluating such applications on a case by case basis,” the industry regulator said.