Safaricom Unveils an M-Pesa Payment Card

Safaricom on Wednesday launched a payments card dubbed “M-Pesa One Tap” that is set to improve payments on its M-Pesa mobile money service.

The card, which includes the card, a Wristband, and NFC badge will be used to monitor an individual’s Mpesa account such that whatever balance they have in their M-Pesa wallet is reflected on the card.

The new platform seeks to improve customer experience in payments while using the mobile money service.  The solution will also extend to merchants receiving payments directly via M-Pesa or via the Lipa na M-Pesa card.

The first commercial roll-out of the payment solution has been launched in Nakuru after a successful pilot phase which has been ongoing for the last 6 months. Safaricom targets 500,000 points of sale payment points across Kenya including bars and restaurants, retail shops, fuel stations, among others.

Users of the card will only be required to tap their cards on the mobile point of sale machines. The product is currently being piloted in Nakuru, with merchant recruitment ongoing and the telco will look towards onboarding more merchants to the service.