What Ziidi Trader Is and How It Works in Kenya
If you’ve ever thought about buying shares but felt the process was too complicated, you’re not alone. Many Kenyan traders and small business owners would like to invest in the stock market but do not know where to begin. That is where Ziidi Trader comes in -a functionality within the M-PESA application that enables the process of buying and selling shares in the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) to be accessed in a much more convenient way.
Ziidi Trader enables qualified M-PESA users to trade shares listed on the NSE directly from their phones. No lengthy documentation, no traveling to a broker’s office. When you are already using M-PESA for your everyday transactions, the experience is not that overwhelming. Convenience is important to very busy entrepreneurs who have to deal with stock, customers, and cash flow.
Fundamentally, Ziidi Trader aims to make stock markets easier to access. The service offers an omnibus account rather than opening a separate trading account. This is one account that represents shares of a large number of investors. Safaricom holds the primary CDSC account in a licensed broker account, but customers’ individually held shares can still be registered in the system.
It is relatively easy to start. You can also activate Ziidi Trader in the M-PESA app if you are an M-PESA customer, 18 years of age or older. All one has to do is open the app, go to Financial Services, choose Ziidi Trader, agree to the terms, verify, and confirm with your M-PESA PIN. It can also take you just a few minutes to visit the market.
When you are about to purchase shares, the procedure is done step by step. Within the Ziidi Trader mini-application, select Trade, select the company you are interested in, tap Buy, enter your desired price and number of shares, review the summary, and confirm with your M-PESA PIN. The flow will be user-friendly, even for first-time investors.
To most Kenyan traders, Ziidi Trader is a larger change in the field of finance - the buying and selling tools are getting closer to the place where Kenyans currently handle money. Nevertheless, do not forget that stock trading is not the only segment of the financial puzzle. Good enterprises depend on good cash flow as well; good savings and access to good financing options when new growth opportunities knock.
The first step is to understand the way Ziidi Trader works.
