Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) is to rollout M-Shwari, a mobile phone-based savings and loan service, in other countries in East Africa, following a successful deployment in its domestic market of Kenya.

The bank, which also has a presence in Tanzania and Uganda, plans its regional expansion before the end of the year.

CBA partnered with Safaricom for the launch of M-Shwari in Kenya. It became the sister service to M-Pesa, Safaricom’s well-known money transfer service.

According to IT Web Africa, CBA Group chief executive Isaac Awuondo told a press conference: “We are partnering with another telecom company to try and replicate the success of M-Shwari.”

However, Awuondo did not reveal the identity of its new partner. A number of operators have a presence in both Tanzania and Uganda, including Airtel, Smart, Smile and Vodafone (through Vodacom in Tanzania and Vodafone/Afrimax in Uganda).  Vodafone is also a 40 per cent shareholder in Safaricom.