Standard Chartered Head of Wealth Management Kenya and East Africa Paul Njoki (left), takes the bank's Head of Retail Banking Kenya Edith Chumba through the T bills and Bonds trading process during the launch

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya has announced it’s the first commercial bank in Kenya to launch bonds traded exclusively through the mobile phone.

The Bank becomes the second entity to launch mobile traded bonds and bills after the Kenyan Government launched the world’s first Treasury bond in 2015 offered exclusively via mobile phone and in a bid to stimulate public participation in the capital markets, raise money cheaply and boost the national savings rate.

In an official release, the bank says that clients will be able to buy and sell local currency government bonds and treasury bills through the SC Mobile App. There will be no need to visit a branch to fill in forms.

The clients will also be able to view the list of available securities to be traded through the App for the trading day, see transactions history for previous deals submitted, and learn more about local government bonds trading through educational page.

Early this year, in January, the Kenya government through Central Bank of Kenya (CBK rolled out another mobile-based service dubbed CBK-TMD, which will enable users to place applications/bids for Treasury Bills and Treasury Bonds, receive auction results, receive notifications for payments made, query their CDS accounts, and query Treasury Bills and Bonds on offer.

The minimum investment amount for the SC Mobile traded bond has a face value of KSh100,000 while the maximum one can trade on the app is capped at KSh10 million.

“Today we have added another first to our digital banking innovation as we continue to expand our digital offering across our banking spectrum. We are happy that this launch will go along away in supporting the Government quest for financial inclusion,” Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Head of Wealth Management, Paul Njoki said.

“Client journey is completely paperless for trades less than KES. 10 million and we believe that the minimum amount will appeal to a larger number of clients,” Mr. Njoki said.