Gulf Bank, UK firm ink cash transfer deal

Gulf African Bank MD Abdalla Abdulkhalik. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NMG 

By LYNET IGADWAH
More by this Author

Summary

• Gulf African Bank and WorldRemit have signed a deal that will enable Kenyans abroad to make instant cash transfers to the bank.
• The deal is meant to ease the international cash transfer process and grow the amount of money sent to Kenya.
• KCB, Standard Chartered, Barclays, Equity and National Bank are WorldRemit’s other partners in Kenya.

Gulf African Bank (GAB) and London-based money remittance company WorldRemit have entered a partnership that will enable Kenyans abroad to make instant cash transfers to the bank’s local branches.

The deal is meant to ease the international cash transfer process and grow the amount of money sent to Kenya.

KCB

, Standard Chartered , Barclays , Equity and National Bank

are WorldRemit’s other partners in Kenya.

Related Content

• Gulf Bank, Visa target wealthy customers with concierge services - VIDEO
• Bahraini lender eyes piece of Kenya’s Islamic banking
• Bank to sell trader’s property over loan arrears

“We are offering our customers a safe, fast, secure and cost effective channel that will enable all our customers in the diaspora seamlessly transfer funds to benefit their dependents and investments in Kenya anytime,” said GAB managing director Abadalla Abdulkhalik.

The deal will see Kenyans living in over 50 countries, including the United Kingdom, US and Canada send money directly from their phones to 100,000 GAB accounts and 18 cash pickup locations at the bank’s branches nationwide.

Payout options

Kenyans sending money home can choose from a variety of convenient payout options including bank transfer, cash pickup, mobile money and airtime top-up.

The partnership comes in the wake of WorldRemit’s Sh4 billion expansion drive in Africa which kicked off in December 2017. The firm’s customers complete an estimated 1.3 million transfers every month from over 50 countries to more than 145 destinations.

“Over 90 percent of WorldRemit transactions are authorised within 10 minutes and customers can track their money’s journey in real-time,” said Sharon Kinyanjui, the Head of East and Central Africa at WorldRemit.