Safaricom to Replace Transaction Books with Digital Registers to Enhance Privacy

Safaricom M-Pesa agents across the country will, by the end of 2019, receive digital registers that will replace the ordinary transaction books in a move to enhance information privacy of its customers.

According to Amon Ngechu, Senior Manager, Financial Systems (M-Pesa) Support, the company’s technical team is in its advanced stages and will soon roll out the transaction book in digital form.

“We will work with the regulator and our regulatory counterparts are working on that to ensure that requirement is lifted and all information needed by the regulator and agents can be available in digital means,” Ngechu told the media at a technology forum held at Safaricom Headquarters, Nairobi.

The idea is timely considering the fears many have been experiencing in terms of the safety of their mobile money information. There have been cases of individuals losing money from their bank accounts mysteriously yet they gave no approval for the withdrawal.

These fears have made fraud a perpetual concern, however, Safaricom has always been up to speed in aggressively tackling fraud issues.

The move by Safaricom to replace the books with the digital types goes a long way in reducing incidences of fraud for customers. Being also among the leading and burdensome issue to customers, the digital books will safeguard customer information and prevent it from being accessed by outsiders.

M-Pesa has been the target of fraudsters who explore loopholes in its processes to steal money from customers. Fraudsters have utilized several methods, including stolen or forged national identity cards, to register different M-Pesa accounts and use the same to steal funds from other people’s M-Pesa accounts.

Moreover, some conmen have a habit of calling customers to inform them that they have won some money in a competition and through a series of instructions, unsuspecting customers would end up sending money to the fraudsters. Nonetheless, Safaricom’s biometric security service that nowadays uses a customer’s voice for identity has reduced these incidences.

The digital register is a technological innovation that, although it might not suffice in getting rid of frauds completely, takes security and customer privacy a notch higher. Furthermore, M-Pesa agents will be relieved from the tedious task of manually entering the details of the customer into the handbook.