IBM eyes Kenyan banks

banks as mobile money expands in the country's banking sector, American Banker reports.

"Throughout Africa, we are seeing increasing signals that more banks are keen to take advantage of the growing number of customers who own a mobile phone or can access the Internet to deliver financial services using the medium," says Tony Mwai, IBM country GM in East Africa.

StocksandShares.TV says Credit Bank, Co-operative Bank, Family Bank, National Bank of Kenya and National Industrial Credit Bank have signed agreements with the tech giant.

The agreements are among more than 20 similar deals that IBM has signed with banks across Africa in 2011, in line with the rapid growth of the financial services sector, and as technology enables a wave of innovation in African banking.

It is estimated that Africa's financial services industry is currently worth over $100 billion and will continue to experience double-digit growth over the next decade, How we made it in Africa states.

IBM is also helping Kenyan mobile operator, Safaricom to provide its M-Pesa mobile money services to more than 15 million customers. By 2015, IBM expects that up to 30% of its global revenue will be from emerging markets like Africa.