Prepaid cards are a growing segment of the financial services market in Kenya and have become a popular payment tool from employee salaries, suppliers and even purchase of low-cost equipment.
They are a convenient way of providing banking services to a large number of customers according to Susan Gichia, Card Manager of the Ecobank.
Ecobank Pre-paid card was launched in September 2015 and has already taken the financial services market by storm.
However, she says the Kenya’s financial market is still at the infantry stage in terms of the use of pre-paid cards and over 80 percent of the banks are yet to adopt their full usage.
“The level of usage of pre-paid cards in Kenya is very low, but is slowly picking up given its numerous benefits and convenience,” said Gichia.
Ecobank is among a dozen banks in the country that have undertaken the use of pre-paid cards more aggressively.
Gichia says Pre-paid cards usage have the following advantages:
- The card is convenient. Once loaded, the card can be used in any country without having to change into the local currency of that country. When for instance, you load up the card in Kenya and you visit Nigeria, then you will be able to transact without having to convert the money into Nigerian Naira.
- The card is safer than using cash. Even if the card gets lost, there is no cause for panic as you can lock it at any Ecobank branch and apply for another one with the funds being intact.
- There is no risk of overspending. With pre-paid cards, you only spend what you have and once that is depleted, there is not a chance of spending beyond your means or limits. It, therefore, gives you a chance to plan for your spending and only for what you need.