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News from AccessBank Tanzania

AccessBank Tanzania Introduces Mobile Phone Payment Services


Dar es Salaam, 1 February 2011 - AccessBank Tanzania (ABT) has introduced “M-Pesa” mobile phone transfer and payment services as an agent for Vodacom Tanzania. The service was piloted successfully in ABT’s head office branch since December and is now available at all branches and to all customers (even those without a bank account at ABT). Interested clients who are not yet registered for M-Pesa can do their registration at the Bank’s tellers.

The M-Pesa technology enables customers to send and receive money to or from any M-Pesa customer in Tanzania for any thinkable purposes including school fees, wedding contributions, medical treatments or other emergency situations. M-Pesa also allows to make payments for pay-tv subscriptions, electricity vouchers, water bills and a growing range of other uses. These services are available to any customer independently of having an account at ABT. However ABT account holders will benefit from additional services, first and foremost the ability to make loan repayments or deposit money into their accounts through their mobile phones. This latter functionality will be introduced in the second quarter of 2011.

Patrick Schoeneborn, AccessBank’s Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“The introduction of M-Pesa agency services represents an important milestone for AccessBank as it provides additional flexibility and convenience to our clients and the general public. M-Pesa stands for affordability, speed and ease of use, which fits very well with the key competitive benefits of ABT. The experience during the pilot phase has shown us that a large number of clients are very keen to use this service. The ability to make loan repayments from any point in the country is of great advantage especially to those customers who regularly travel upcountry for business purposes.”

AccessBank Tanzania started operations in November 2007 and is currently operating out of five branches in Dar es Salaam. It provides a broad range of financial services focusing especially on Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) and the lower- and middle income clientele. The Bank has already more than 47,500 clients and expects to hit the 50,000 clients mark by March 2011.