GLOBAL payment services provider Western Union and Ecobank have launched an account based money transfer service in Kenya. Ecobank intends to offer the service in more than 2,600 agent locations across its footprint of 31 countries in the coming months.

The service will allow the bank's customers convenient access to the Western Union service via internet banking and through any of the ATMs and kiosks in the Ecobank network, enabling them to receive money in their accounts anytime.

The money transfer service is also an offering that may attract formally unbanked consumers to become banked and fully integrated into the formal financial system thus taking financial inclusion to the next level, a statement said.