Kenya: HP and KWFT Sign KES162m Systems Upgrading Contract

From Ratio Magazine

Global integrated IT solutions provider Hewlett Packard (HP) today signed a USD1.8m (KES162m) contract with the Kenya Women Finance Trust Deposit Taking Microfinance Ltd (KWFT) to upgrade the latter’s information communications technology systems and revamp its primary data center.

The upgrade, coming after the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) awarded KWFT a license to operate as a fully-fledged deposit taking institution, will be anchored on HP’s state of the art Superdome 2 solution that will enable the financial institution manage its technological requirements and achieve operational efficiency in service delivery in keeping pace with the high growth trend at KWFT.

“The upgrade will also enable us manage growing demands for our ever expanding customer base that currently stands at over 450,000 as well as internal staff operations and regulatory reporting.” said the KWFT Managing Director Mr. Mwangi Githaiga.

KWFT is an affiliate of Women’s World Banking (WWB). The financial institution has risen to become one of the most successful and best practice financial institutions in Kenya targeting low income women and their families with credit and savings products through an extensive office network which provides deep penetration into the rural, remote and peri-urban areas.

The HP East Africa (EA) Managing Director Mr. Ken Mbwaya said KWFT’s technological advancement complimented the new way of delivering value to customers and citizens instantly dubbed as the Instant-On Enterprise. The HP Instant-On Enterprise, technology is everywhere that matters, from disparate mobile devices to global data centers and everywhere in between.

“We have converted KWFT into an Instant-On financial institution with technology to deliver flexibility, automation, security, insight and speed. These are technology imperatives delivered through HP solutions including the HP Application Transformation, HP Converged Infrastructure, HP Enterprise Security, HP Information Optimization and HP Hybrid Delivery. With these solutions KWFT is able to deliver IT services faster and more reliably than ever,” Mr. Mbwaya added.

Mr. Mbwaya further reiterated that future partnerships will be flexible and accommodative to new technologies, changing demography and workforce.

KWFT has a total of 215 business outlets, including 10 deposit taking branches in Kakamega, Eldoret, Nyeri, Mombasa, Nairobi’s River Road, Malindi, Kericho, Kisii, Embu and Migori with three additional opening soon in Machakos Kitale and Nanyuki. Several other deposit taking branches are scheduled to be opened across the country in 2011.

To supplement the extensive geographical presence, KWFT clients use GSM mobile money transfer services to remit savings and loan repayments and the institution is currently implementing a robust mobile banking system that will see their clients enjoy the services round the clock from their convenience.

Further, KWFT is certified on a shared ATM network, enabling clients to transact through ATMs conveniently. The institution is currently deploying its own ATMs both at the deposit taking branches and at other strategic off site locations across the country. Some key customer service processes are automated for instance origination of account opening through mobile phone based application.

This year the finance institution clinched the coveted WWB excellence in Leadership Award where it was recognized as top among 39 network members in 27 countries across the world for demonstrating excellence in principled leadership, financial and social performance and upholding institutional commitment to gender diversity and women leadership.