Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecommunications company and operator of M-PESA, is bringing tap-to-pay to physical shops through a partnership with Pesapal, a Kenyan payments company that provides point-of-sale terminals to merchants.
Customers with near field communication (NFC)-enabled Android or iPhone devices can now tap their phones on compatible Pesapal terminals to pay a merchant through M-PESA, rather than manually entering the merchant’s Till Number, a code used to receive M-PESA payments. Customers without NFC can scan a quick response (QR) code instead.
The partnership lets Safaricom put M-PESA on thousands of existing checkout terminals without building its own POS network. It adds M-PESA tap and QR payments to the terminals that Pesapal’s merchants already use, changing how customers pay without changing the underlying Till Number system.
The rollout starts with 30,000 Pesapal terminals in Kenya, mostly in restaurants, hotels, and selected supermarkets, according to Agosta Liko, founder of Pesapal. Safaricom is using the network to let customers pay by tapping their phones at checkout. Consumers pay no extra charge, just as they would when paying through an M-PESA Till Number.
Originally published by TechCabal.