KCB signs African cross border payment deal

By Peter Ochieng

KCB Group has signed an Africa-wide deal to facilitate settlements of cross-border transactions, on the continent.

The agreement was signed early this week with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) in Accra, Ghana on the sidelines of the Afrexim Bank Annual meeting.

It makes KCB the first bank in East Africa to onboard the financial market infrastructure, that provides a secure and efficient channel for processing cross-border payments.

Paul Russo, KCB Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) said the platform will guarantee speed, affordability and reliability of transactions, in the end boosting intra-African trade and payments.

"With this agreement, we bring on board our payments and collections expertise spanning over 120 years," he said.

"This means that our customers will now have access to vast economic opportunities that will deliver multiple advantages and efficiencies especially when conducting Intra-African trade payments.”

The platform is a centralized financial market infrastructure developed in collaboration with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to complement trading under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“As a Pan-African banking institution, it is our desire to play a bigger role in facilitating trade across Africa and beyond. With such partnerships, we shall be able to settle our own transactions including those for all its subsidiaries as well as for other commercial banks without many hurdles.” Russo added.

The platform will deliver multiple advantages and efficiencies to intra-African trade payments, that include a reduction in the duration and time variability of cross-border payments across Africa.