Postbank And Pesalink Partner To Extend Agent Network To Kenyans

Pesalink and Postbank PLC have partnered to allow Postbank agents to accept cash deposits from customers of other participating banks. Under the partnership, customers of participating financial institutions can now deposit money at any of Postbank’s more than 600 agents and branches across Kenya. This rollout expands access points, making everyday banking much more convenient for millions of Kenyans by giving them more flexibility on where they can deposit cash.

While Postbank PLC has a long history of offering agent banking to other lenders through one-on-one bilateral agreements, integrating with Pesalink changes the game. By plugging into a shared payments infrastructure, Postbank can now open up its nationwide agent network to all participating institutions at once, eliminating the need for separate individual technical integrations or individual contracts. Ultimately, this move boosts interoperability across Kenya’s financial ecosystem and drives financial inclusion forward through a smarter, more connected agent network.

Gituku Kirika, Chief Executive Officer of Integrated Payment Services Limited, IPSL, said, “Agent banking remains one of the most important ways that Kenyans access financial services. As the sector evolves, banks and SACCOs have an opportunity to open their existing agent networks to other institutions, allowing customers to access cash services through agents beyond those operated by their own financial institution. This gives customers more places to transact while helping financial institutions get more value from their existing networks.”

Right now, there are over 93,341 bank agents serving customers throughout Kenya. Even as digital payments skyrocket, physical cash is still a massive part of daily life. By linking existing agent networks together, the industry can expand cash services without forcing every single bank to spend money building and maintaining its own massive network from scratch.

For Postbank PLC, this extends the reach of its agent banking channels, bringing more transactions onto its existing infrastructure and increasing the value of its investment in agent banking. It also creates opportunities for its agents to serve a wider customer base beyond Postbank PLC’s own customers.

Dr. Raphael Lekolool, Managing Director, Postbank PLC, said, “Postbank PLC pioneered agent banking since 1978 and has continued to invest in building a strong agent banking presence across Kenya in line with the Bank’s mandate on financial inclusion. Making our network accessible to customers of other participating financial institutions allows us to extend the value of that investment while creating more opportunities for our agents to serve customers. Through this arrangement, we can support greater access to banking services while making better use of the infrastructure we have already established.”

Postbank PLC customers will still access cash services through their usual agents just as they always have. But as more banks and SACCOs onboard, their customers will also be able to deposit money directly into their accounts via Postbank agents using Pesalink’s rails. Keep in mind that during this initial phase, the service only supports cash deposits, withdrawals through this specific arrangement are not yet available.