February 16, 2023, was the day Nancy Wambui, a cereal trader in Nairobi’s Nyamakima, almost lost everything in less than a minute.
Wambui remembers leaving her shop at around 2:00 pm for a supermarket along Moi Avenue to get some shopping for her son, who was about to return to school.
On her way, she met a middle-aged man and a woman who stopped her to ask for directions, but it turned out they were conmen.
”The woman stopped me and asked me if I could direct them to Rongai stage. That was the last conversation I remember between us. It was also the last time I remember seeing the two,’’
Wambui recalled.
”After coming to my senses, I found myself sitting at the railway’s bus stop holding my push-button phone. How I got there, I still have no idea,’’
she added.
After coming to her senses, Wambui realized her purse, which had Sh. 8,000 cash, was missing alongside her Oppo Reno 8 smartphone and Co-op Bank Debit Card.
”I stood there screaming, but no one could help me. They were just asking me questions and making fun of it, saying hii ni Nairobi,’’
She said.
What stressed Wambui the most was not just losing her valuables but how her son would make it back to school. She noted that her son, who was in form two, had delayed returning to school for the first term due to illness.
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Feeling hopeless, the single mother of 3 called her sister and informed her of what had happened. Her sister, who was also in town at the moment, responded swiftly, much to the relief of Wambui.
”She told me that I could still shop without the debit card, but that sounded like a big joke to me.”
”She gave me one of her smartphones and asked me to download the MCo-op Cash App and pay directly to the M-Pesa till. I also learned that one can pay directly by dialling *667#,’’
added Wambui.
Since then, Wambui says that she has gone cashless.
“I no longer cash unless it is extremely critical. I shop and pay for goods and services using the MCo-op Cash App,”
she says, adding that where she needs to use her M-Pesa, she can simply send cash from the app to her M-Pesa.
A spot check on the app from Co-operative Bank shows that it is available on Play Store and Apple Store.
It allows Co-op bank customers to enjoy a range of services that are aimed at simplifying various financial transactions, such as saving money and applying for loans to transferring funds, paying bills, and even purchasing airtime.
”I can also access a salary advance loan of up to Sh. 500,000 and pay school fees and other bills via the App.”
adds Wambui.
According to Wambui, her incident was like a blessing in disguise from which she learned of a new payment method as well as the importance of not being kind to everyone, especially in the city.
The businesswoman reported the matter at the Central police station.
“I made a report at Central. About two months later, in April 2023, I heard that two suspects who looked like a couple were arrested trying to rob someone along Tom Mboya Street. It might have been the same couple that robbed me,”
she says.
