Dar es Salaam. Depositing cash with three community banks is now an easy task and can be done from any location, thanks to a new initiative launched earlier this week.
Ruvuma’s Mbinga Community Bank, Mufindi Community Bank and Mwanga Community Bank of Iringa and Kilimanjaro regions respectively now have an initiative that allows their clients to deposit their cash with the banks via M-Pesa – a mobile phone money transfer service by Vodacom Tanzania.
The three banks have launched the service after receiving support from the Bill & Melinda Gate’s Foundation which works with its Tanzania-based technical partner, Tai Mobile Solutions.
“By simply entering the bank’s M-Pesa identification number, their account number, PIN code and the amount to be deposited, any customer can now deposit money into an account,” the Mbinga Community Bank general manager, Optati Shedehwa, said in a statement made available to The Citizen in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
The three banks will be identified by numbers: 676767 for Mbinga, 706070 for Mufindi and 707070 for Mwanga.
The facility saves time and money that rural dwellers spend as they travel to a nearby urban centre in search of a location to deposit their hard-earned cash.
“We expect that account holders living in remote areas will especially benefit from the service,” says the Mufindi Community Bank general manager, Danny Mpogole.
According to the Mwanga Community Bank managing director, Abby Ghuhia, the service which became operational effective Monday this week (15 April), is part of a wider initiative to roll-out new transaction channels and services to increase outreach and make basic banking transactions easier for all account holders.
Fisherman Godfrey Simsokwe, a Mwanga Community Bank customer from Nyumba ya Mungu Dam village, said: “Being able to send cash deposits to my account through my mobile phone is a big relief as it saves time and travelling costs to the bank for depositing. I also avoid the risk of keeping cash in my house, travelling with cash is now history.”
By Thecitizen
