KCB Group and Safaricom Limited this week announced a far-reaching strategic partnership that the companies say is expected to reshape how tens of millions of consumers in Kenya access financial and telecommunication services, according to a join press release from the companies.

Safaricom has a customer base of 21.5 million served in over 250,000 shops — 88,000 of which are M-PESA agents — and KCB Group is East Africa's largest commercial bank, established in 1896 in Kenya. It has the largest branch network in the region of 236 branches, 950 ATMs, 8,000 agents and 3 million customers, according to the announcement.

"By coming together, pooling our resources and building on the strength of the KCB and Safaricom brands, we have demonstrated that together we can do more to grow the business opportunities in our respective markets and deliver better solutions to our mutual customers," Joshua Oigara, CEO of KCB Group, said in a statement.

Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said: "In the next few weeks we expect to offer our combined customer base the best-in-class of financials services and integrated communication solutions. I am a personal believer that the competitive landscape requires closer collaboration between organizations who share similar beliefs of providing transformative products and services to the Kenyan consumers"