Mobile banking: 25 years ago, nearly every town in the country had a red or yellow telephone booth. These booths were like a sacred place where Kenyans would queue patiently to make calls.
Catherine Atieno remembers these booths with nostalgia. “They were like a holy grail. They left you mesmerized in a way. Going to town to make a call used to be a very enviable activity that was at par with going to town for banking services,” says the 47-year-old senior human resource practitioner in Nairobi.
The booths began to lose their splendor after the turn of the millennium in 2,000 when a quiet revolution began. A big rugged mobile phones weren introduced into the local market. Then came Nokia 3310:, Famed for being rugged, big, loud, with squeaky ringtones and reliable.
“I still have my 3310 from the 2,000s. I think I bought it around 2005. It no longer functions but I have kept it as a memento. It was the first mobile phone that I ever owned,” says Catherine with a smile.
She recalls that the gadget had predictive text input, smart messaging, calculator, voice dial, mobile chat mode for SMS, a currency converter, clock, alarm clock, stopwatch and only four games including Snake II, Pairs II, Space Impact, and Bantumi. Catherine has been an activite participant in the mobile evoulution; she’s watched various models go replaced by newr, more advanced technologies. In tandem with this evolution, her needs have also evolved.
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“My mobile phone has become part of who I am. It contains a collection of everything that makes up my current lifestyle, from personal moments and entertainment to health, from career to finances,” she says.
Catherine recalls how at the turn of the millennium, it was unfathomable that one could have a smart gadget comprising all their needs. “I would never have taken you seriously if you told me that I could send money or access my bank account via a mobile phone in 2,000,” she says.
Today, it is hard to imagine going a day without your mobile phone. To our credit, Kenyans have wholeheartedly embraced mobile technology. For instance, the latest data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) shows that that mobile subscriptions in the country increased by 6.7 percent in the three months to March 2025 to reach a record 76.16 million, pushing the mobile penetration rate to 145.3 per cent, reflecting the increasing impact of mobile technology in daily lives. This is evidence that technology is powering Kenyans lives.
At a personal level, one of the most critical aspects of technology is financial inclusion. Take money transfers. There are currently over 80 million registered mobile money accounts in the country. This number has been rising by the millions every year. To bring it into perspective, registered accounts stood at 75 million in 2023..
Esther Katee resonates with this. She uses her mobile phone mainly to transact her customers, the bank and top up instant loans when she needs to. “I have a stall in Dagoretti Corner market where I work as a Mama Mboga. I run my store from 11:00 am till 6:00 pm. Most people have now moved away from using hard currency. They want to pay with phones,” she says, adding that this has made her work easier.
“Most of my commodities sell in multiples of Sh5 or Sh100. A few years ago, it was difficult to serve some customers because of loose change. A customer could order for Sukuma wiki going at Sh30 only to pay you with Sh1,000. You would have to abandon your work in search of loose change. Nowadays, I just show them the Buy Goods number or my mobile number and they send money directly to me.”
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From her mobile phone, Ms Katee says that she can access her KCB bank account and is able to transfer money from her mobile wallet to her savings account or her current account.
“I have been banking with KCB Bank Kenya for the last three years and I have been using the bank’s mobile service to transact which has been very convenient. Typically, at the end of the day, I transfer all my profit to my savings account, and send my operating capital to the current account. This maintains my liquidity and I am able to access credit to boost my business during high seasons,” she says.
Ms. Katee was pleasantly surprised when she noticed changes on the New KCB Mobile App. “I noticed some new features for planning towards financial goals this week,” she says. “I have been planning on expanding my stall to a larger shop to accommodate more products such as fruits and some cereals. I am considering setting this as a goal on the app so that money is automatically deducted and saved daily over the next four months,” she says.
Like Ms Katee, Catherine says that the new features on the the New KCB Mobile App are a great and refreshing.
“I am the treasurer in my chama. I need to consistently monitor member contributions, payout bi-weekly beneficiaries, as well as contribute,” she says. “I also make many personal transactions which requires a fast and efficient mobile banking app. I would drop anything to get an app that delivers faster, more secure, and user-friendly functionalities. Hearing of a new app offering these attributes is really a welcome relief,” she says.
The New KCB Mobile App provides an all-in-one bespoke digital banking outlook, introducing breakthrough self-onboarding capabilities, allowing customers to register and begin banking instantly, anytime, anywhere. It is powered by advanced artificial intelligence, data analytics, and a mini-app ecosystem to match the dynamic modern lifestyle. The platform is world class; it is built for scale, agility, and inclusivity, delivering a truly personalized and future-ready banking experience.
Her sentiments are not so farfetched. With 80 percent of all adults in Kenya receiving private sector wages digitally, data from the Global Findex Database shows that a majority of Kenyans rank these attributes as their main point of consideration.
“I hardly have the time to go to a physical branch to transact or to send money, or to pay for GoTV. I want to do all that from my phone which means I want only an app that can guarantee the security of my money and ensure that only I can authoritatively gain access,” says Rashid Juma who is a 24-year-old web and graphic designer.
