Standard Chartered Bank has partnered with Airtel Ghana Limited to launch Straight2Bank Wallet in Ghana, expanding the coverage of its mobile wallet service in Africa.

First introduced in Kenya in 2013, Straight2Bank Wallet enables corporations, governments and development organisations to make cashless payments to both banked and unbanked individuals. Especially relevant in emerging markets with large rural areas, mobile wallets provide an efficient and secure alternative to onerous and risk-prone cash payments.

With the introduction of this new payment channel, Standard Chartered’s corporate clients in Ghana can now use the Bank’s Straight2Bank electronic banking platform to make payments directly into an individual’s Airtel Money mobile wallet, regardless of the time. This allows clients to effectively reach out to their beneficiaries with timely payments, while mitigating the risks of fraud and theft associated with cash payments.

Lucy Quist, CEO, Airtel Ghana said” “The Straight2Bank Wallet service is a seamless, safe and instant mode of making single and multiple payments to employees or suppliers in a single batch. Money transferred can be received conveniently on a mobile phone via Airtel Mobile Money. We, at Airtel Ghana are very excited about the service and the partnership with Standard Chartered Bank. As one of the most forward looking financial services in Ghana with a strong commitment to technology, we have no doubt that this partnership will be a great step towards achieving our goal of attaining a cash-lite economy”.

Kweku Bedu-Addo, CEO Standard Chartered Bank West Africa 2 commented, “In partnership with Airtel, we are proud to be the first bank to introduce mobile wallet services to Ghanaian companies.  Mobile wallets not only bring operational and cost efficiencies to our clients, but also mean individuals receive their funds through secure channels – another way we are supporting Ghana’s Central Bank to foster a cash-lite economy.”

Philip Panaino, Head of Transaction Banking Africa added, “Ghana is the 5^th African market to enjoy the benefits of Straight2Bank Wallet within the Bank’s global roll-out strategy.  Since its introduction, we have seen a steady increase in the volume of transactions processed via Straight2Bank Wallet, demonstrating the ease and convenience this product brings for our corporate clients, and reiterating our promise to be Here for good.”

To date Standard Chartered has delivered the benefits of Straight2Bank mobile wallets to corporates in 10 markets within the Bank’s global footprint, namely Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.