IBM is doing good for sugar cane farms. Each month, sugar cane cutters in Kenya would take 2 to 3 days off work to travel to banks for long queues to deposit their pay. How IBM helps is by providing sugar cane cutters the ability to deposit the money into their bank accounts via mobile phone so they do not have to endure the lengthy process.
Over the last six months, IBM signed a deal with five of Kenya’s banks: Credit Bank, Co-operative Bank, Family Bank, National Bank of Kenya and National Industrial Credit (NIC) Bank. This strategic move will meet the growing demand of banking institutions in Kenya and increase profitability in addition to launch services in mobile and internet banking. It is estimated that Africa’s financial industry will be worth over $500 billion by 2020 and grow at an annual rate of 15% thanks to the retail boom. Family Bank has recently implemented a banking system that runs on IBM hardware and operating system.
The benefits of this infrastructure go beyond sugar cane employees. Mobile banking is becoming more popular in Kenya that many banking customers make everyday transactions through mobile phones. They pay utility bills and purchase supplies. Already, mobile phone company M-PESA allows users to make transactions without ever having to visit the bank. The joint effort by the banks and IBM will give people easier access to their accounts and run businesses, as it is too costly for banks to open new branches.
