Category Archives: credit cards

Centum seeks Carbacid

and other Bank Twits

Twitter is a micro-blogging tool that is really nifty for doing mini-posts, forwards and other remarks that (are on any subject) and are maybe not worthy of a full blog post. Here’s a summary of my week on Twitter:

– @louizah Zain Vuka has ended? Please confirm
– @NTV showing IFC-funded docu on women entrepreneurs – meaning manu-arsenal will be on tape delay – WHY? next @NTV ditched a static-filled channel & skipped their ‘half time’ piece to present second half live, on a much clearer signal! Kudos
– Sports journo era over? Player asks for trade on blog team obliges on Twitter player thanks fans on Facebook http://tinyurl.com/d967eu
– blog post Why Safaricom should spin-off MPesa http://bit.ly/gYZ86
– The Central Bank of Kenya reports have become incomprehensible B.S
– Upgraded Safaricom Investor relations page has media and CEO briefings http://bit.ly/VBZ2f
– Tanzania will now recognize Kenya manufacturers mark of quality http://bit.ly/USZHg
– Delta Air round-trip intro fares from Nairobi include (ex-tax) $650-NY/DC, $975-ATL/Chi/ Dallas, $1124-LA/SF and $1440-Detroit
– @kahenya @jamesmurua likes Riviera, which has good crowd and facilities, but beer is pricey and the place is a fire-trap
– So Joe Biden met Nairobi Mayor Majiwa in Chicago. There, that’s the end of the joke
– Safaricom CEO says M-Pesa not yet profitable http://bit.ly/TDV8D
– @leofaya says Kenyan promoters are killing Facebook http://bit.ly/zBHXB
– Today’s pavement uprooting is sponsored by Access Kenya – as the fibre optic railway is laid around Nairobi
– @Archermishale sports conspiracy goes that where a sport wants to sway a big game, they put in a low-quality ref, but didn’t happen on Wednesday
– Safaricom partners with Kenya’s largest bank KCB http://bit.ly/J4l92
– Kenya budget saga ($115 million) blamed on a typo – Quote ODB “N___ please!” http://tinyurl.com/p5hoyo
– blog post: two bank shareholder meetings same day same building same time http://bit.ly/86lNq
– @pinkm so you can only use debit, but not credit card to buy amazon books from KE? Interesting
– Ethiopian Air applies to fly from Nairobi to Amsterdam and Nairobi –Liege (Belgium)
– Land spin: Could there be a link between Migingo Island and the Kampala land Kenya got from the Uganda military?
– If MTN buy Yu or Access Kenya, they will have to negotiate with MTN matatu society for use of the name.
– blog post Its Our Turn to Eat (is credit card worthy) http://bit.ly/YnriQ
– NMG 2008 report gives prominent mention of new digital division, Making-Nation DVD and Zuqka portal http://tinyurl.com/qkcphc
– Centum applies to the CMA to buy Kshs. 350M of Carbacid shares and be the largest shareholder of the Nairobi listed (but suspended) company
– Senator cards advise customers to only upload to https, not http sites. It’s rare to find credit company giving card advice
– From Mars Group: Parliament’s Report on the Kenya Budget inconsistencies http://blog.marsgroupkenya….

Holiday Weekend

 

The Getaway 2005 tourism expo kicked off at the Sarit Center today. It seems a bit subdued compared to years past but perhaps that was because today was opening day. Usually I’d go on Sunday but since Friday was a holiday (Idd-Ul-Fitr), I went to see if I could pull off a Mombasa holiday in December as I must see the ocean soon.

Card mania
Just days apart, two banks have launched new debit and credit cards. KCB and Southern Credit both realize that Kenyans are wary of credit card debt, hence the move to roll out debit cards. E.g. All the KCB brochures have the phrase “use cards in the secure knowledge that you cannot run into debt because your card is prepaid”. The debit cards are visa branded, and you don’t have to have an account with either of the banks to obtain pre-paid cards.

Sports
Will attempt a bit of golf for the first time in many months, but otherwise will mostly relax and watch….

Saturday 05 November
2:45 AM Cricket: Australia vs. West Indies 1st Test Day 3, SS2
3:15 PM FA Premiership:: Aston Villa vs. Liverpool, SS3
6:00 PM Arsenal/Sunderland SS3 & Blackburn/Charlton SS6 & Newcastle/Birmingham SS7
6:45 PM Rugby : Wales vs. NZ SS1
8:00 PM Premiership:: Portsmouth vs. Wigan Athletic SS3
10:30 PM Rugby : Argentina vs. SA SS1 & France vs. Australia SS2
11:45 PM La Liga:: Villarreal vs. Valencia SS3

Sunday 06 November
02:45 AM Cricket : Australia vs. West Indies 1st Test Day 4 SS2
11:45 AM Cricket : India vs. Sri Lanka 5th ODI SS6
6:00 PM Road Running New York Marathon SS1
4:30 PM FA Premiership:: Everton vs. Boro SS3
7:00 PM FA Premiership:: Man Utd vs. Chelsea, SS3
8:30 PM US PGA: the Tour Championship Day 4 SS1
10:45 PM La Liga: Getafe vs. Barcelona SS3

Am-Ex: Don’t leave for shags without it

American Express has signed a deal with Barclays (Barclaycard) and the Am-Ex card will be available in Kenya from May 1. Barclays currently issues Visa cards, but so many banks (KCB, NBK, Co-op, CBA, Prime etc) now have cards from Visa that they no longer have the prestige and exclusivity that Barclays wants to project.

Operations will be processed via Barclaycard centre, Nairobi and the Am-Ex card will later be rolled out in eight other African countries.

Co-op Card offer

I have been persuaded by family to get a credit card for emergencies, and coincidentally Cooperative Bank (Co-op Card) have waived their card joining fee of (Kshs. 3,000) till the end of January. I will do an analysis this week of available local credit cards, before I decide on which card to apply for.

Barclaycard Not So Friendly Anymore

For the second time in a month, Barclays has sued loan defaulters for nonpayment. The accused 17 borrowers had borrowed amounts ranging from Sh80,000 and Sh800,000 under the bank’s home improvement and credit card schemes in the past two years.

Last month, the bank sued another group of 20 defaulters. The borrowers took the loans following a publicity blitz by the bank, which also reached out to non-account holders.