Digital money transfer service WorldRemit and the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) have launched a partnership to enable Kenyans living abroad to make instant transfers home.
The partnership will see WorldRemit users to make instant bank deposits to NBK accounts held in both Kenyan Shillings and US Dollars, as well as send funds for cash pickup in KES across NBK’s branch network.
According to the Central Bank of Kenya, Kenyans living abroad sent home over Kshs 177.34 billion (USD 1.71 billion) in 2016, up from Kshs 159.82 (USD 1.54 billion) in 2015, an 11% Year on Year increase. This makes diaspora remittances Kenya’s largest source of foreign exchange – ahead of key industries such as tea and horticulture.
Since the start of operations in Kenya, WorldRemit claims its customers have completed almost 2 million money transfers to the country, sending more than 80,000 transactions every month from the WorldRemit platform.
