Bank of Kigali Plc. is providing an e-commerce gateway to enable businesses to sell merchandise and services online and promote the adoption and growth of digital cashless payments in Rwanda and the region.

Clients can securely place orders or directly purchase merchandise and services online at the convenience of their smartphones or computer from various ecommerce merchants that are already enrolled onto the platform.

According to Joselyn Mutesi, the Digital Business Manager at Bank of Kigali, e-commerce is a convenient way of making payments for goods and services sold online with global reach.

To enroll, merchants are required to meet some basic requirements: a hosted website or mobile application and a certificate of incorporation issued by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB).

"We saw a major decline in business sales due to travel restrictions put in place by governments to control the spread of Covid-19 in 2020, going forward e-commerce can help reverse the trend for businesses by allowing them to continue to sell their merchandise anytime on the global market”, she said.

"Wherever clients are located worldwide, they can order for goods or services on online merchant websites and mobile apps. Our e-commerce service is convenient; eliminates queues related to the standard merchant shops and consumers can save time and money purchasing merchandise online. Payments are also directly settled to merchant accounts, making it secure as merchants do not have to worry about securing physical cash,” she noted.

BK is currently powering government agencies, hotels, schools, travel agencies and other SMEs through its e-commerce platform to ease payments for various services being provided.

She urged businesses with Made-in-Rwanda products to leverage the technology in order to promote their products on the global market.

Joselyne said that BK seeks to boost the use of its e-commerce service by onboarding 60 per cent of businesses by the end of this year.

Bank of Kigali is working with other payment partners and international card schemes such as UPI (Union Pay), Amex, Dinners to enable clients with these card types to shop online through the BK platform in addition to Visa and Mastercard cards currently accepted on the platform.