​​​​​​​​​​​Innovative ‘Bank in A Bag’ project to improve bank reach, add 5000 savings groups, some 67,000 customers​

BRUSSELS, 5 December 2017 – Momentum continues under WSBI’s Scale2Save programme as Kenya Post Office Savings Bank and WSBI signed today a Memorandum of Understanding for the innovation-driven postal savings bank to drive greater financial inclusion.

The Nairobi-based institution, also known as Postbank will take part in the Mastercard Foundation-supported program by launching a “Bank in A Bag” concept and deploying staff with it to where customers – both individuals and savings groups – meet. The Bank in A Bag contains needed record-keeping materials and ICT equipment such as a point-of-sale (POS) terminal, laptop computer, an Android tablet and a router. The equipment will enable end-to-end processing of account opening for individual customers in remote locations outside a traditional brick-and-mortar branch.

Anne W. Karanja, Managing Director, said: “Bank in A Bag lifts some of the barriers to access and usage of banking services in rural Kenya, especially distance and cost. Financial education will also play a big part in the work by WSBI and KPOSB, enabling the bank to execute a strategy to acquire, activate and retain savers.”

With the support of WSBI, Postbank will build on the newly developed and its already-piloted Mchama product, a mobile savings and payments service for village groups to deepen the reach, scale and sustainability of low balance accounts as well as address dormancy of accounts. They will continue to train 400 Postbank agents and continuous group financial literacy training programs. They will also continue to expand their pool of Community-Based Trainers, sales ambassadors who will support the recruitment and training of village groups.

A research component will round out the project, with the bank looking to better understand group savings and transactional behavior when using Mchama. WSBI Managing Director Chris De Noose said: “It’s the second memorandum signed in the last two months by WSBI and partner banks in Africa to demonstrate the business case of small-scale savings. We look to assist Postbank in their aim to onboard 5,000 groups and 66,744 new accounts active by the project end date in 2020.”

Pilot preparation on the Bank in A Bag project starts this month with a scheduled January 2018 implementation start date.

About Kenya Post Office Savings Bank

The Kenya Post Office Savings Bank (Postbank) is primarily engaged in the mobilization of savings for national development. Postbank is committed to creating business growth while ensuring that delivery of services is done in an ethical and socially responsible manner. The bank considers the interests of the community and strives to maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct and corporate responsibility in service delivery. Corporate Social Responsibility is fundamental to its culture and core values, with focus placed on environment, health, financial Literacy and education. Wholly owned by the Government of Kenya and reports to the Ministry of Finance, Postbank is committed to the standards of corporate governance as set by the government and the Central Bank of Kenya for the public sector.