Author: Francis Muli

Safaricom has launched a new feature that will allow businesses transact directly using their MPesa tills. The feature is an upgrade of the Lipa Na Mpesa tool, which has only been accessible by customer MPesa wallet. The MPesa business tool will now allow Micro, small and medium enterprises to send money and make payments directly from the MPesa till number. Businesses will now be able to send customers and their employees money directly from their MPesa till numbers. The service is available through the Bulk disbursement service (B2C), which is also instrumental in facilitating salary, sacco and dividend payments. The…

The Athi River Mining (ARM) has announced plans to sell its subsidiaries in Rwanda and South Africa. The amount gained from the sales will be used to settle debts of $284 million (approximately Ksh30 billion) owed to creditors in Kenya ($170 million), Tanzania ($110 million), and Rwanda ($4 million). The firm plans to sell its Kigali Cement plant in Nyarugenge District, Rwanda, which produces 100,000 tonnes a year. ARM Cement was placed under administration in August 2018 after failing to meet its financial obligations. The company was also suspended from trading at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE). Read: Billionaire Narendra…

Netflix has said it will reach out to customers who have not watched anything on the on-demand video streaming service for more than a year, to find out if they are still interested in maintaining their subscription. Should they not hear back from the subscriber, they will cancel their membership. Netflix said it had already started to notify people who have not watched anything for the 12 months since they become subscribers if they wished to keep their subscription. They have also reached out to people who have had no activity in two years or more. “You know that sinking…

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has approved acquisition of Imperial Bank assets worth Ksh3.2 billion by Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB). This comes a month after KCB cut the portion of the loan book it intends to take over from the collapsed Imperial Bank to Ksh3.5 billion. KCB’s initial review had identified Ksh10 billion loans for takeover before cutting the target to Ksh5 billion and now Ksh3.5 billion. KCB maintained it will buy loans that have enough collateral. Read: KCB To Take Over Five More Imperial Bank Branches In Receivership Deal “Remember we were not doing an equity acquisition; we…

Google maps is set to feature a new mode named ‘accessible places’. The feature will primarily show wheelchair accessibility information and will roll out gradually to Android and iOS users. “When Accessible Places is switched on, a wheelchair icon will indicate an accessible entrance and you’ll be able to see if a place has accessible seating, restrooms or parking,” Google explains in a blog post. “If it’s confirmed that a place does not have an accessible entrance, we’ll show that information on Maps as well.” Google designed the feature for over 30 million global wheelchair users with the data taken…

Instagram has announced an update to the notification that pops up when users are using art in a way that violates its rules. The social media app posted its guidelines for using copyrighted music during live video streaming, stories and other posts on the feed. The changes announced on the pop up are aimed at helping users avoid Instagram’s automated interruptions such as muting or outright blocking you during your live or story. This normally occurs if you play a copyrighted song for too long in your video. The change will now see the pop up appear much earlier during…

Young lawyers working for senior advocates could be the most frustrated lot in the country, it has emerged. According to a letter to the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) CEO Mercy Wambua by lawyer Levy Munyeri, the young advocates are working under extremely poor conditions characterized by monstrous workloads and thin timelines. “They are forced to work overtime without allowances or any form of appreciation from their bosses. Human errors that are reasonably foreseeable at work are treated with vicious victimization and public dress downs. Some are unduly compelled to perform duties that fall far outside the scope of advocacy,”…

As part of Google’s Digital Well Being initiative, YouTube has released a new bedtime reminders feature to help even the most dedicated and committed online types to log off at night and sleep. YouTube already has a ‘take a break’ reminder and this joins in the broader set of YouTube Wellness and Screen time tools. The main goal is to help users enjoy Google products responsibly especially with the crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen more people turn to the internet for work, entertainment and to maintain connections. Over the last two years, YouTube said it…

Electronic transactions are recommended during this COVID-19 period to discourage users from touching cash which can aid in the transmission of the illness. You can buy Airtime directly from your bank account quickly and easily by following the simple steps below. Cooperative Bank’s MCo-op Cash service allows you to check your balance, withdraw cash, transact directly to an M-Pesa Paybill, send money,  buy airtime, apply for a loan and even get your account statement. To buy airtime using MCo-op Cash, simply dial *667# Enter your MCO-OPCASH pin and press okay to continue On the main menu that appears, reply ‘7’…

Tinder announced today that it will be testing out ‘global mode’ an option for users to select so that their profiles are shown to potential daters around the world, regardless of their location. The company no longer believes that social proximity is a necessity when it comes to dating and users will now be able to view and match with more people from other countries. The feature sounds slightly similar to Tinder’s paid option called Passport, which allows users to select a location and swipe in that location. Global mode will however have user’s profiles populate the world. Passport has…

Facebook has announced a new feature on their messenger app designed to protect users from  scammers. The social media app scans accounts for any suspicious activity and will pick up anomalies such as sending out many friend requests within a short time span or sending out many messenger requests to users under the age of 18. The function has arrived at a time when there is an influx in false friend requests caused by a change to Facebook’s search algorithm. If the app detects any suspicious activity, a pop up chat window will appear noting the issue, and with the…

Mediamax Network limited, the holding company for K24 TV and People Daily Newspaper, has announced plans to fire more employees over the adverse effects of Covid-19 pandemic to the economy. In a letter to the county labour office, Mediamax acting CEO Ken Ngaruiya says that the company will abolish some positions as part of its cost optimization measures in the wake of its new business realities. “The services of some of its employees will be rendered superfluous thereby necessitating the termination of their employment on account of redundancy. In accordance with the provisions of Section .10 of the Employment Act.…

In April, Apple and Google announced that they were developing a COVID-19 contract tracing tool. The company has announced the launch of the software which will allow nations to build contact tracing apps if they adopt the privacy-centric model the software is built on. The two giant companies said they were offering health authorities around the world the platform to aid in their efforts to tame the pandemic. “The work public health officials are doing humbles us all,” said the two companies in a statement. “Google and Apple are clear that this is not a panacea but we do believe…

Co-operative Bank of Kenya (Co-op Bank) has recorded Ksh3.58 billion profit after tax for the first quarter of 2020, a 0.2 percent dip as compared to Ksh3.59 billion profits recorded in the same period in 2019. The balance sheet grew to Ksh470.4 billion at the end of March 2020 up from Ksh425.67 billion posted a year earlier representing a 10.5 percent growth. Total non-interest income grew to Ksh4.9 billion from Ksh4.1 billion while total operating income grew to Ksh12.5 billion from Ksh11.1 billion. Gross Non Performing Loans (NPLs/bad loans) stood at Ksh31.8 billion up from Ksh29.7 billion. Investment in Government…

Twitter is testing a new function that allows you to have a conversation with just a few people. The announcement was made via their official twitter handle. The function is still in the testing phase and is only available to only a few people globally. To use the feature, Compose your tweet and mention the people you want to talk to, then tap on the permission stings at the bottom left side.  Here, you will select who you would like to reply to the message; the options are, everybody, people you follow or people you mention only. If you select…