Kenya, Uganda Start Electronic Money Transfer Services

By Eddyson Lugangwa Posted 19 April 2006 @ 12:38 pm EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

Nairobi (IBTimes.com) - Posta Kenya and Posta Uganda and are to begin joint electronic money transfer in July 2006, to end delays while transferring money from Kenya to Uganda through post office.

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is a system of transferring money from one bank account directly to another without any paper money changing hands.

One of the most widely-used EFT programmes is Direct Deposit, in which a payroll is deposited straight into an employee's bank account, although EFT refers to any transfer of funds initiated through an electronic terminal, including credit card, ATM, Fedwire and point-of-sale (POS) transactions.

It is used for both credit transfers, such as payroll payments and for debit transfers, such as mortgage payments.

The move to start electronic money transfer was announced by Posta Uganda and Posta Kenya officials on April 12, at Grand Imperial Hotel in Kampala during a luncheon hosted by Posta Kenya to honour Kenyan students in Uganda who led to the growth of money transfer services between the two sister countries.