Choice Microfinance Bank and digital payments platform WayaWaya have signed a partnership to extend regulated banking services to roughly 32,000 businesses.
The deal will link Choice Bank’s banking infrastructure to WayaWaya’s platform through an API, letting merchants receive, hold and make payments without moving funds between multiple providers.
Integration will also give businesses access to foreign exchange, international transfers, utility payments and domestic bank transfers within the WayaWaya ecosystem.
Founder and Chief Executive Teddy Ogallo said the partnership addresses limits that have restricted the amount of money merchants can collect and settle because of the absence of direct banking infrastructure.
“Once the money comes into the ecosystem, it can be kept within WayaWaya and used to pay suppliers and even salaries, rather than the current setup where we have to move it to a different platform,” he said.
He added that “transferring funds between platforms exposes businesses to additional transaction charges and creates fragmented payment processes.”
Ogallo said the company expects the partnership could double or triple the number of businesses it serves.
Chief Commercial Officer Patrick Russell said the arrangement will help fill gaps in merchant payment systems by giving small and medium-sized enterprises banking options beyond mobile-money networks.
“Merchant payments in Kenya are very important, especially at the SME level. We need to provide them with better collection capabilities, not just relying on mobile network frameworks, but also banking capabilities,” he said.
Under the agreement WayaWaya will keep the direct relationship with customers while Choice Bank will provide the regulated infrastructure, hold deposits and conduct KYC checks.
Russell said customers will effectively hold bank accounts with Choice Bank even as they access services through WayaWaya’s technology platform, and deposits will be covered by the Kenya Deposit Insurance Corporation within applicable limits.
The partnership also launched an AI-driven retail banking app called WayaWaya Banking, built by WayaWaya and powered by Choice Bank’s licence.
“Traditionally, banks build applications around products and expect customers to adapt to them. We believe the future should be the opposite: banking should adapt to the customer,” said Teddy Ogallo.
He explained that the app analyses a user’s transactions and reorganises the interface around how they earn, spend, save and invest.
“The idea is to move beyond customers having to search for financial services. Instead, the platform can increasingly anticipate their needs,” he said.
“WayaWaya can then tailor how those services are presented to a business owner managing daily collections or an individual setting money aside,” said Mr Russel.
WayaWaya, founded in 2016, views the Kenyan launch as the first step toward a pan-African neobank that will connect partners through a single app.
“A business expanding from Kenya into Nigeria or Uganda should not have to navigate an entirely disconnected financial experience in every market,” said Mr Ogallo.
