Uganda telecom limited (utl) has unveiled its Facebook and Twitter SMS service. Testai Menghastab, the chief technician at the Utl said at the launch that the social networking service is free and that subscribers will be able to update their facebook and twitter accounts by SMS, thereby expanding the use and impact of the two social networking tools in Uganda. Mark Kaheru, the utl public relations manager said the service is applicable to all types of mobile handset. He said utl has enough bandwidth to handle the SMS traffic flow. To access the social networks one has to send fbme to 2299 for facebook and Tweetme to 2299 for the twitter and will receive instructions to follow to access the networks.
KCB marks good Q3
KCB bank has launched its 203rd branch with the opening of KCB Elgon-Masaba in Mbale, Uganda.
The branch, which targets customers and government agencies on the Kenya-Uganda border, makes KCB the largest commercial bank in the East African Region. It operates in Kenya, Tanzania, Southern Sudan, Rwanda and Uganda. In Uganda, it already has branches in Kampala, Arua, Fort Portal, Gulu, Lira and Mbarara. The new branch opening came at the same time as KCB won the Banking Innovation Awards in Kenya for the Year 2009 for its mobile phone banking dubbed KCB Connect. The KCB Connect launched two months ago is a mobile telephone bank that provides full banking services on the mobile telephone handset at the touch of a button, including enquiries, banking instructions, funds transfers and utility bill payments. It is available to all KCB accountholders and KCB credit card holders. At the same time, the bank announced a KSh5.3 billion operating profit (approx. UShs 132 billion) before tax for its 2009 Third Quarter trading results. The pretax profit increased marginally by 1% to KSh5.28 billion from KSh5.2 during the same period in 2008.









