Affordable remittances and enhanced financial inclusion for rural remittance families in Kenya

IFAD is partnering with Credit Bank to expand the financial inclusion of remittance recipients in Kenya and promote affordable remittance services to Kenyan migrants abroad, particularly in Germany and Uganda. This project will enhance Credit Bank’s set of products designed specifically for customers in the diaspora. Credit Bank will offer international remittance transfers at a cost below the market rate through the newly established partnership with RIA. In an effort to expand financial inclusion, particularly in rural areas where most of the financially excluded people are, Credit Bank will partner with Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) to extend the remittance service access.

Budget:

Financed: €309,175
Co-Financed: €395,552

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Duration: 2023 ~ 2024

Project Category Financial Inclusion
Remittances & Digitalisation

Target Groups:

Kenyans receiving remittances from Germany and Uganda, especially SACCO members and people living in rural areas, as well as the Kenyan diaspora.

Programme

FFR Strategic Framework

PRIME Africa

Project Goals

Enhance the financial resilience and economic empowerment of remittance senders and rural recipients in Kenya through cost-effective and digital remittance flows

Implementing Partners

Credit Bank Ltd. (CBL), operating since 1984, is one of the best performing tier 3 commercial banks in Kenya. CBL specializes in SME banking and trade finance and has fast tracked the digitization of its products and services delivery at the onset of COVID-19. RIA Money Transfer Services is the third-largest global consumer-to-consumer remittance company. It processes US$4,5 billion in money transfers annually. RIA originates transactions through a network of over 10,000 sending agents, 510,000 cash locations and 98 company-owned stores, and terminates transactions through a payer network. Interswitch Kenya is a subsidiary of Interswitch Group which started operations in 2002 in Nigeria, as a transaction switching and electronic payments processing company, building and managing payment infrastructure. Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA) is a federation of 42 registered affiliate diaspora organizations and a membership of approximately 25,000 Kenyans abroad, including 2,000 in Uganda and 3,000 in Germany.

Geographic Target

Kenya

Outcomes

Credit Bank through the PRIME Africa project has integrated with Ria, Interswitch and Skyline and Solutions SACCOs to provide digital remittances into CBL accounts and into the SACCO accounts.
Credit Bank, in collaboration with Skyline and Solution, developed a suite of marketing materials and tools to engage their members and promote the adoption of the new remittance solution.
Credit Bank enlisted the services of a consultant to develop a comprehensive financial literacy curriculum in close collaboration with both Credit Bank and the SACCOs, along with other strategic partners. This collaborative approach ensures that the curriculum is tailored to the unique needs and circumstances of the target audience.
The financial literacy activities started in Q1 2024 with Skyline SACCOs. The project run a first batch of Training of Trainers (TOT) and following financial literacy training at SACCO level. As of June 2024, 19 SACCO staff members and leaders were onboarded as trainers, and a total of 450 members joined the financial literacy sessions.