Nation, DTB launch money transfer service

The Nation Media Group (NMG) has launched an international money transfer service, angling for a share of the Sh75 billion diaspora remittances from Kenyans abroad.

The media company and DTB launched a Visa pre-paid card known as NationHela which targets mainly Kenyans sending money home.

“Users can send money online, directly from a Paypal account, debit or credit card into the NationHela account. Diamond Trust Bank will handle the back office side of the business,” NMG chief executive Linus Gitahi said on Wednesday at the official launch.

The service, approved by the Central Bank of Kenya, has had a seven-month pilot phase and is linked to mobile networks.

NMG plans to use its newspaper distribution points across the country, the over 8,000 Visa merchants and automated teller machines in Kenya and DTB’s branch network to popularise the service.

The pre-paid cards will also be sold at supermarkets such as Uchumi and Nakumatt, alongside DTB branches and agents countrywide.

Foreign currency can also be transferred to and from M-Pesa accounts.

The card, selling at Sh500, also allows users to top up from credit and debit cards and Paypal.

The media house plans to ride on the trust of the millions of visitors on its news website to eliminate the fears that have dogged online transactions.

“Money deposited in the NationHela account will be held by DTB and consumers should rest assured that their money is safe,” Mr Gitahi said.

Users can also go online at NationHela.com to transact. Once the money has been sent, the recipient receives a text message alert on their mobile phone.

Cheaper by 30pc

The card comes at a time when diaspora inflows have been on the rise, having grown by over 40 per cent in 2011 to Sh75 billion from about Sh53 billion sent in 2010. The card is also 30 per cent cheaper than existing platforms.

DTB group chief executive Nasim Devji said the bank will provide customer service and technical support.

Users will not need to have an account with DTB or any other bank.

“We currently have 80 branches in the region and we will be rolling out agency banking in October this year.” This should make it possible to mass market the service, Ms Devji said.

DTB is available in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi, and plans to enter five new countries in the next eight years.

NMG maintained that it was not going into banking services but was developing products to use existing platforms for commerce.

The card will be launched in the rest of East Africa in the coming months.

NMG trades in Tanzania through its subsidiary, Mwananchi Communications Ltd, the publisher of Mwananchi, Mwanaspoti and The Citizen newspapers.

In Kenya, the group publishes the Daily Nation, The EastAfrican, Taifa Leo, and the Business Daily newspapers and runs two radio stations, Easy FM and QFM and two TV stations, NTV and QTV.

In Uganda, the company operates the newly-acquired Dembe FM and a television station, NTV Uganda, while its subsidiary, Monitor Publications, publishes The Monitor and the Monitor Telephone Directory and operates KFM radio station.

The diversification saw NMG’s profits after tax in the six months to June 2012 grow 23 per cent to Sh915.1, compared with Sh747 million in the same period last year, helped by market share gains and increasing advertising and circulation revenues.

Its sales in the half year period grew 13.5 per cent to Sh5.8 billion from Sh5.1 billion.