A Leading financial services provider, Zamara Group, has launched Africa’s first pension or savings plan on WhatsApp.
The latest innovation will allow customers to open, access and transact with Zamara’s Fahari Retirement Plan account via WhatsApp.
Speaking during the launch at a Nairobi hotel, Zamara Group Chief Executive Officer, Sundeep Raichura, said the development highlighted Zamara’s quest to accelerate and enable digital and financial inclusion in Kenya by providing easy access to financial solutions.
“With a reach of more than 12 million users in Kenya, more than any other application in the country, using WhatsApp, we are uniquely positioned to bring more people into the pensions and insurance ecosystem,” said Raichura.
“We will leverage this messaging platform to help address the challenges of financial literacy and deliver micro pensions in Kenya,” he added.
Highlighting the challenges of financial inclusion, Mr. Raichura said, as a financial services providers, they face a number of roadblocks, such as the level of presence they have in different parts of the country and the number of salespersons they can deploy which has limit the number of people they can reach.
“Using this platform, we will be able to reach the untapped market segments, particularly the youth and the informal sector and enable them to access sachet sized pension and insurance solutions through a simple, reliable, private and secure experience,” he explained.
Retirement Benefits Authority, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Nzomo Mutuku, lauded the efforts by Zamara, saying financial inclusion empowers individuals with the ability to have the right tools, to save and manage their money wisely.
“The innovation is the first one in the country and we are optimistic that it will spur voluntary, individual savings not only for the informal sector, majority of whom do not have a savings or retirement plan, but also the youth and general public, whilst helping change the narrative and perspective of savings in the country,” said Mutuku.
The Fahari Retirement Plan is a fully digitized pension or savings solution which is accessible to any Kenyan through multiple channels including USSD code, Website, Agents and now through WhatsApp.
By Hamdi Mohamud
