In an obvious move to stay relevant (and competitive) against the growing dominance of mobile payment services in the form of Safaricom’s M-Pesa and Zain’s Zap, Western Union has massively lowered its money transfer rates within Kenya to just 2% of the value being transferred. The new rate applies to transfers from as little as Kes. 100.00 to a maximum of Kes. 500,000.00.
The reduced rate which became active on the 1st June 2009 is applicable to over 500 Western Union agent locations throughout Kenya. What remains to be see is if users on Zain’s Zap and Safaricom’s M-Pesa will even consider using Western Union since the convenience and ubiquity of mobile-based transactions in Kenya make for a very compelling value proposition. More details can be found at Western Union’s Kenya web site here >