Kagwe wants PCK to improve on efficiency

Information and Communications minister Mutahi Kagwe has advised Postal Corporation of Kenya(PCK) to improve on service delivery in order to cope with new market challenges.

The minister said money transfer service providers should improve on efficiency and maintain reliable and cost effective services.

Speaking yesterday during the launch of Posta pay services, Information and communication minister Mutahi Kagwe said that if local companies are to make a niche in the competitive market there is need for them to embrace the recent technologies at the market.

Kagwe said that its failure by the players in the sector which has led to the emergence of unscrupulous players at the sector who are giving a bad image of the sector as well as denying government million of shillings in revenue.

Kagwe said that despite the fact that the government recognise and encourages competition it is unfortunate that money transfer is being undertaken largely by informal providers which will pose real challenge in the existence of such services in the country.

“I am aware that the service is being offered by a number of providers in the private sector, mainly public transport companies, while the government recognises and encourages competition its unfortunate that money transfer is being undertaken largely by unlicensed providers,” Kagwe said.

He said this presents a major risk to the customers who are not assured of any guarantee or compensation for unseen losses, as well as denying government huge amount of revenue which would otherwise be channelled towards national development.

The minister hailed Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK) for initiating the service noting that they will be in a position of raking in huge amount of money mainly from Kenyans in the diaspora who contribute remits over Sh50 billion annually.

Kagwe noted that despite the fact that money transfer is a multi billion dollar sector worldwide, Africa controls about 10 per cent of the formal market share most of which is in the hands of private companies which are well established and whose brands get instant recognition across border due to many years of experience and heavy investment in brand building and service proposition.

Sadly, the minister said of this share Africa Posts handles only five per cent of the huge in flow from outside leaving out the rest of the business to foreign companies.

The minister said with this in mind there is big business opportunity for public Postal operators in Africa from the fact that they control unrivalled networks of outlets.

He said Posts can easily reverse the situation by deploying appropriate technology to cover huge population’s particularly in rural areas.

With the new venture, Kagwe said it will widen the coverage and increase business traffic from the untapped parts of the country.

He challenged financial service providers to embrace technology as in doing this they will stay ahead in service provision as well as providing quality, efficient and reliable services.

The new service dubbed Postal pay, allows Posta customers to get instant electronic money transfer to over 130 Postal outlets with over 500 outlets being incorporated in the service within the next six months and Kenyan living in the diaspora being able to use the service by early next year.

Speaking during the function, Postmaster General Fred Odhiambo said that Postapay is not just a product, but a solution that has been developed to address customer needs of a fast, reliable, secure and affordable service.

He assured the public that the new service will be in tandem with the modern trend currently taking place in the market as well as at par with other competitors.

He said that Posta is currently working on modalities which will enable the corporation to provide door-to-door services to corporate and retail customers.

Odhiambo said Postapay solution will ride on the solid experience of PCK and her partners as well as Afripayments both of whom have made substantial investments in the relevant technology and manpower development.