This archive report was first published on 5 May 2020.
As the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) continues to wreak havoc on the global economy, Kenyan businesses are feeling the pinch. Since the first case was confirmed on March 12, 2020, businesses across the country have struggled to stay afloat.
From shrinking revenues to difficulties in facilitating transactions, and reduced ability to honour monthly loan repayments, the challenges have been compounded by measures from the Ministry of Health aimed at preventing the spread of the virus.
However, with more Kenyans going cashless and keeping social distance, businesses that offer cashless solutions such as e-commerce capabilities now have the upper hand. Co-op Bank has taken the lead in providing such solutions, allowing businesses to receive card payments online.
“With the outbreak of the Coronavirus, customers are going cashless. The business owners who are at an advantage are those with cashless solutions. We have invested heavily in e-commerce solutions to guarantee merchants and their customers safety and quick flow of payments from their customers end into the merchants bank account,” says Co-op Bank in a statement.
According to Co-op Bank, businesses will not only get this sort of convenience but will also enjoy the subsequent increase in sales, with customers able to transact at any time from any location in the world. “We are guaranteeing outstanding real-time processing speed with average authorization response time of below 2 seconds, real time reporting, scalability and security,” says the bank in a statement.
Erica Akoth, who runs a home delivery green grocers business in Lower Kabete, Nairobi, echoes the urgency with which businesses want convenience and efficiency. “We are operating business at a time when an entrepreneur’s most coveted asset is convenience. We want the sort of convenience that does not evoke memories of the turbulence that the economy has caused,” she says.
