KCB Bank And dLocal Announce Strategic Partnership to Streamline Real-Time Remittances

KCB Bank, one of the largest banks in East Africa, has entered into a strategic partnership with dLocal, a global payments solutions provider focusing on emerging markets, to streamline real-time remittances. This partnership has received the green light from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

Expanding on their current local acquiring collection agreement, this collaboration will enable dLocal’s global customers to make real-time disbursements directly into any Kenyan bank account. The partnership aims to leverage the advanced technological capabilities of both companies to improve financial access, ensuring greater efficiency and security.

This initiative comes as recent data from the CBK reveals that Kenyans abroad remitted a total of $1.2 billion (Ksh158 billion) during the first quarter of this year, marking an 18.8 percent increase compared to the same period in 2023.

“We are delighted to collaborate with dLocal to transform the payment industry. This partnership does not only offer cutting-edge remittance solutions to the bank’s diverse customers, but also extends the reach of KCB’s financial and digital ecosystem to empower the lives of our customers and businesses across Africa.” Mrs. Annastacia Kimtai, Managing Director, KCB Bank Kenya

Also speaking, dLocal Chief Revenue Officer, John O’Brien expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, noting that empowering KCB Bank customers with innovative payments solutions that prioritise choice, security, and flexibility fills has been dLocal’s priority.

Kenya is a key market for remittances and the country has seen the transfers hit a record $4B in 2023, equivalent to 3% of its GDP. The debut of dLocal’s remittance approval with KCB in Kenya bodes well for its broader expansion across Africa and comes after the company expanded its presence in Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, Rwanda, and Kenya (albeit with other licenses, approvals or partnerships almost a year ago).