Equity Bank and Safaricom have launched a new service to let consumers transfer money from and to their M-PESA accounts via their mobile phones. The newly introduced bank account dubbed M-KESHO allows customers to make remittances with their handsets while enjoying other benefits of bank accounts.

Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Michael Joseph said “M-PESA is proud to launch another new initiative with our partners Equity Bank by offering a new service that will target customers who are looking for the convenience of a bank account that uses M-PESA as the tool to deposit money into their accounts. This is a great idea that will drive customers to save into their bank accounts and enjoy the benefits of having the value added services of both M-PESA and an Equity bank account."

In addition, M-KESHO accounts also offer short term loan facilities with interests paid on mobile account deposits. Credit evaluation for loans will be based on scoring using 6 months of history of the consumers M-PESA balances. There is no application for to fill - the loan request is made by the consumer using the mobile phone.