Safaricom and Pesapal have announced the rollout of new payment technologies aimed at making transactions faster, simpler and more convenient for businesses and customers across Kenya.
The partnership brings together Safaricom’s M-PESA payment innovations and Pesapal’s merchant payment infrastructure, introducing Dynamic Scan-to-Pay and Tap-to-Pay through Pesapal’s point-of-sale (POS) devices.
The latest developments build on Safaricom’s existing M-PESA payment solutions, including Scan-to-Pay, AI Pay and Tap-to-Pay, as the company seeks to expand digital payment options for customers and businesses.
Speaking on the partnership, Safaricom Group Chief Technology Officer James Maitai said the company was focused on evolving the M-PESA payment experience as customer shopping and transaction habits change.
“As the way Kenyans shop and transact continues to evolve, we are focused on ensuring that M-PESA evolves with them. This means moving beyond simply enabling payments to reimagining the payment experience itself. Our partnership with Pesapal is an important part of that journey, bringing together our respective capabilities to shape the next generation of everyday payments,” Maitai said.
Under the new Dynamic Scan-to-Pay service, customers can scan a QR code displayed on a Pesapal POS device. The merchant details and payment amount are automatically populated, allowing customers to verify the information before completing the transaction.
The partnership also introduces Tap-to-Pay, allowing customers with NFC-enabled smartphones to tap their devices on a Pesapal POS, verify the transaction details and complete the payment.
Pesapal founder Agosta Liko said the integration would improve the checkout experience for businesses and their customers.
“Tap-to-Pay and Scan-to-Pay on the Pesapal POS represent the biggest leap in Kenya’s checkout experience in years. Thousands of businesses trust our platform, and by teaming up with Safaricom, we are delivering the faster, error-free transactions their customers expect. Today, we activate the future of payments,” Liko said.
Safaricom is also rolling out AI Pay, a new feature on M-PESA through My OneApp, which has recorded more than seven million downloads.
The AI-powered service allows customers to scan receipts, including printed or handwritten receipts, and automatically identifies and populates the available Till or PayBill details and payment amount.
The feature is designed to reduce manual entry during transactions and make it easier for customers to complete payments using M-PESA.
Safaricom said Scan-to-Pay is already available at more than 60,000 merchant outlets, with the company targeting 500,000 outlets within the next year.
The expansion, alongside the growing network of Pesapal POS devices, is expected to increase access to digital payment options for businesses and customers across the country.
The companies said the partnership will support the rollout of payment solutions designed to simplify transactions and respond to changing customer and business needs.
