Man wants to be paid for ‘his’ M-Kesho

• Trader says he was shocked later after learning of a deal between Safaricom and Equity on the new product which he claims bears similar features as those he had mooted.

A businessman claiming to have confided a concept similar to M-Kesho to agents of Equity Bank is threatening to derail efforts to boost the bank’s revenue.

Since the product was launched in May, the bank in partnership with mobile phone service provider Safaricom is said to have opened over 600,000 accounts on the service.

The number of accounts represent a figure larger than those of most medium-sided banks not to mention a technological breakthrough in banking.

On average, 5,000 clients sign up for the service every day, a report released by Renaissance Capital says.

Claiming that M-Kesho’s features contain most of the details of his concept known as Weka Usaidike, Mr Hoswell Mbugua Njuguna alleges that it was wrong for the bank to use the confidential information to enrich itself.

In a sworn statement, Mr Njuguna says he confided the information to Anne Kinuthia and Eric Karobia. He says that the confidential information was disclosed on August 10, 2006 in a bid to secure an agreement.

Mr Njuguna adds that after the meeting, they agreed to hold further consultations with the management as the idea was being developed.

“The said information was communicated to the defendant in good faith for the sole and limited purpose of negotiating an agreement to be entered into between the defendant and myself for the creation and marketing of the proposed new product, and for no other purpose,” he says in the papers filed in court.

But by the end of August, Mr Njuguna says, the negotiations ended without a deal.

Shocked to learn later

He adds that he was shocked to learn later of the agreement between Equity and Safaricom on its new product but with features similar to his creation.

In using M-Kesho, customers deposit and withdraw money through their mobile phones.

The bank has also introduced sheds and centres throughout the country for handling its operations instead of traditional bank facilities.
Customers also use Safaricom’s M-Pesa service to deposit and withdraw money from a bank account.

Increase its presence

Through the integration of the bank’s network of over 80 branches with 17,500 M-Pesa agents, Equity is expected to increase its presence in rural areas where accessibility to financial services has left a large portion of the population out of the system.

In moving to court, Mr Njuguna says, he was bound to suffer irreparable losses unless Equity Bank was restrained from using the confidential information.

Asked by Lady Justice Kalpana Rawal why he took long to file the case, Mr Njuguna said through his lawyer Duncan Anzala that he was still conducting due diligence.

Most of the features, he disclosed to the court, were sourced from the bank’s website.