Largest South African Bank Might Become a Mobile Service Provder

First National Bank reportedly is in discussions with mobile service provider Cell C about FNB's launch of a branded mobile service. 

FNB already offers its banking clients discounted mobile devices, including tablets and smart phones. In fact, FNB already is one of the biggest airtime distributors and bulk SMS users in South Africa.

Such a move would be the bookend to the moves some mobile service providers are taking to become a bigger part of the banking services banking services ecosystem. 

Safaricom already has millions of Africans using their mobile phones to send cash through an SMS network, Safaricom is now trying to tempt them into a savings-and-loans service called M-Shwari.

An M-Shwari account can be set up instantly and accessed from any mobile handset. It is operated jointly with Commercial Bank of Africa.

Defaulters face losing their phone number, a deterrent to defaults. 

In its first four months 2.3 million subscribers opted in to M-Shwari; about 900,000 of them have active accounts. Deposits to date total four billion Kenyan shillings ($47m). A third of customers have applied for small loans, averaging around $12.