BPR launches new product to attract the unbanked

Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR) has launched a new product dubbed “IZI cash” to tap into the growing demand for mobile banking and attract the unbanked population. The platform allows BPR mobile banking users to transfer money to none account holders, who withdraw it from a BPR Automated Teller Machine (ATM). “From your phone, send money to friends and family—they withdraw it instantly from any BPR ATM, without need for an ATM card or bank account. Only the sender is a BPR account holder registered on mobile banking. The receiver only needs to have a mobile phone,” the Bank’s Head of Marketing and Product Development, Richard Ndahiro, told Business Times. He explained that a BPR account holder can send money from his/her bank account using a phone to the receiver who gets a pin number and the amount. “The receiver pushes a pin code and amount received on the mobile phone on any BPR ATM to access the money,” he said, explaining that the bank has introduced alternative banking channels and streamlined its operations for better services. Currently, BPR has over 1.4 million clients, with 190 branches across the country with 144 connected to the same network. “We intend to connect the rest of the branches in the first quarter of 2012,” Ndahiro noted. Ends

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BPR launches new product to attract the unbanked