The M-PESA to ATM service targets Safaricom's eight million M-PESA's customers.
Users
of the service only require to be registered as M-PESA customers to
enable them withdraw amounts ranging between KShs 200 and Kshs 35,000
from any Equity Bank ATM.
The M-PESA to ATM
service that will be available to both customers and non-customers of
the Bank will adopt the normal M-PESA ATM withdrawal charges.
Customers
wishing to withdraw money will initiate a withdrawal from their M-PESA
menu on their mobile phones and receive an Authorisation Code.
They will input this Code into the ATM followed by their Safaricom phone number and the amount they wish to withdraw.
The Equity ATM will then dispense the required cash and a receipt.
Equity
Bank's Chief Executive Officer Dr James Mwangi said the new service
would not only lay a strong base for low cost Banking, but would also
enable many unbanked Kenyans access money using mobile phone
technology.
"The beauty of this new service
is that one does not have to have an account with Equity Bank to
withdraw money from the Bank's ATMs. The service is also part of the
Bank's commitment to reach more Kenyans through mobile Banking,
allowing them to access financial services with ease," Dr Mwangi said.
Safaricom Chief Executive Officer Michael Joseph said:
"With this partnership, M-PESA customers can now enjoy faster
processing of withdrawals at Equity's 550 Auto Branches spread all over
Kenya. This is an obvious improvement on a similar partnership we
currently have with Pesa-Point,"