【Kenya x Fintech】Japanese PayPay in Kenya! Mobile remittance & payment service M-PESA

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Business Kenya’s mobile money transfer and payment service is easy to use, explained in depth by a user.

This article introduces Kenya’s mobile money transfer and payment service, M-PESA.


What is M-PESA?


M-Pesa was developed by a joint venture between Safaricom, Kenya’s leading telecommunications company, and Vodacom of South Africa.
M-Pesa, Africa’s largest mobile payment platform, was launched by Safaricom in 2007 and has since conquered the whole of East Africa, starting in Kenya, before expanding into West Africa and Egypt, where it has reached about 40 million users.

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How does it work?


The model is to use the call charges charged to your phone or mobile phone as if they were currency.
Safaricom shops and agents are everywhere, including shops and department stores in Kenya.
They are just like the shops of Japanese telecom carriers.
If you tell them that you want to use M-PESA, the staff at the shop will basically be polite and helpful, so if you can speak English, there are no major problems with the installation.


The following is the order in which we were guided through the installation process at the shop.
(1) Purchase a terminal or a Safaricom SIM card.
(ii) First charge the call charges by prepaid at the time of purchase.
(iii) Receive a charge confirmation message by SMS text to your new Kenyan phone number
(4) Start using the service


The author’s impressions of the service
Convenient!


Easy money transfer with just a number!
Even foreigners without credit cards or accounts can recharge from cash!
It can be used anywhere in Kenya, so there is no need to worry as in Japan, where mobile payment methods vary from shop to shop! (It was amazing that it could also be used as a donation to a roadside market or to the homeless)
It’s prepaid, so you don’t need to pay a basic fee!

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