Pay With Equity (PWE)/Fasta Fasta has been built to work on both feature phones and smartphones and all a customer needs to do is dial *555* enter the merchants code or Till Number and then Amount and confirm the payment with a single string 555*1*1*TillNumber*amount#, Free of charge. The money will be debited from the customer’s bank account and credited to the merchant’s account in real time .

“Equity bank customers will be able to pull money from their Equity bank account and push it directly to the merchants’ account in Equity or any other local bank. We have gone a step further and decided to make this transaction completely free to both the customer and the merchant” He added.

This initiative was born out of the urgent need to democratize digital payments and accelerate the experience of merchant payments following the  covid-19 pandemic which has forced everyone to rethink how business is done.

“It gives us great pleasure to lead the rallying call by the Government of Rwanda to enable digital payments and make them accessible for all while eliminating the barrier of cost” added Mr. Namara.

Felix Gahire, a merchant of Equity bank hailed the initiative as revolutionary because the merchant discount rate charged by financial service providers has been removed. “To be able to receive payments instantly at zero commission is what excited me most. I will make sure every customer uses the Equity Fasta Fasta solution whenever they come to my businesses.”

“Our customers have spoken and we responded to their wishes by waiving mobile banking transaction fees to encourage all clients to embrace the cashless lifestyle. They will experience a first of its kind in this market where both the customer and merchant face no charges while paying or receiving payments.This is also a safer route considering the covid-19 pandemic”, said Jean Claude Gaga, Equity bank, Director commercial.

The bank seeks to reach every retail merchant by emphasizing the zero commission facility and instant fund settlement to improve sales.

Equity bank looks to achieve a nationwide recruitment of both customers and merchants to use this platform and the campaign, Pay with Equity / Fasta Fasta will reach all corners of the market and all segments of customers.

About Equity Bank Rwanda

Equity Bank Rwanda began its operations in 2011 and is registered as a commercial bank by the National Bank of Rwanda. The Bank has its Head Office located in Kigali, with a footprint of 15 branches and is supported by 3,108 agents, 1,300 merchants and a network of 22 ATMs.

Equity Bank Rwanda is a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Plc, a financial services company listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Uganda Securities Exchange, and Rwanda Stock Exchange.

Equity Group is the largest bank in the region with assets of USD 11.2 billion. It is also the biggest bank in deposits, market capitalization of USD 2billion and with a customer base of over 15 million customers. The Group has a footprint of 337 branches, 56,772 Agents, 32,269 Merchants, 697 ATMs and an extensive adoption of digital banking channel.

The Banker Top 1000 World Banks 2020 ranked Equity Bank 754 overall in its global ranking, 62nd in soundness (Capital Assets to Assets ratio), 55th in terms of Profits on Capital and 20th on Return on Assets. In the same year, Moody’s gave the Bank a global rating of B2 with a negative outlook same as the sovereign rating of the Kenyan government due to the Bank’s strong brand recognition, solid liquidity buffers and resilient funding profile, established domestic franchise and extensive adoption of digital and alternative distribution channels.