Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Barclays Bank Zambia has partnered with Airtel Zambia to launch its Wallet to Bank platform, a service that allows the transfer of funds from an Airtel wallet account to a Barclays account.
Airtel Managing Director, Apoorva Mehrotra and his Barclays Bank counterpart, Mizinga Melu signed the agreement today at a ceremony held at the Airtel Zambia Head Office in Lusaka.
Speaking during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, Mr. Mehrotra says his company has come to understand the value of having strategic partnerships and that the signing ceremony was proof of how the corporate world was creating synergies to identify more innovative approaches and solutions for the benefit of the unbanked.
He says Airtel can today attest to the fact that many of the partnerships that they have created over time have helped the company to identify more innovative approaches and solutions for the wider community.
Mr. Mehrotra explains that in this day where almost every person has a mobile phone, there is a huge potential for Airtel to leverage on digital technologies and reach the informal sector, especially those living and working in the rural areas.
And Barclays Bank Zambia Managing Director, Mizinga Melu says the partnership with Airtel amplifies the Bank’s commitment to be a digitally-led organization focused on accelerating financial inclusion.
Ms. Melu says Barclays Bank Zambia has continued to invest in technology with more than K45 million committed over the last three years.
She says this partnership with Airtel cannot be underscored as it will enable the bank reach more people, particularly the unbanked where they have no presence as a Bank.
Ms. Melu adds that the partnership is meant to supplement Government’s efforts as prescribed in the 2017 to 2022 National Financial Inclusion Strategy to improve physical access to high-quality financial delivery channels which include bank branches, agents, ATMs, and mobile phones as the percentage of adults using an electronic payment instrument is expected to grow from 37% to 55% by 2022.