East Africa: Safaricom Introduces New M-PESA Statement Service

 Safaricom has announced a new service that allows M-PESA customers to access monthly statements free of charge via email.

The service is one of the enhancements made possible to the system following the relocation of the M-PESA servers from Germany to Kenya, which took place last year in April.

"Every month an average of 30,000 customers' visit our Retail Centres specifically seeking to receive printed M-PESA statements, as a prerequisite to accessing credit from financial institutions or for business reconciliation purposes," said Betty Mwangi, Director - Financial Services, Safaricom.

Ms. Mwangi noted that on average a further 9,000 calls are made to the Customer Centre every month requesting for statements, and listed the new services as illustrative of the transformative power of placing more control at customer's disposal.

The development follows the launch of another value-added service the system called Hakikisha, which allows subscribers to confirm the recipient of their mobile money transfer before it is sent.

With the new statements service, M-PESA customers will also have the option to proactively request for a statement, as well as set up automatic monthly statements every 5th day of the month in a move that is designed to enhance transparency and accountability for users of the service.

The launch of the service will continue to complement the already existing option that allows customers to obtain statements by visiting Safaricom Retail Centres across the country.

To access the statements, customers dial *234# from their handsets and follow prompts to enter the preferred email address they would like their statements sent to. Customers have an option of accessing one-off statements for three, six or twelve months in one go.

"The launch of this service is consistent with our strategic focus to make our products and services easily accessible for our customers. We are leveraging on our continued investment in technology to deliver these statements any time the customer needs them," said Ms. Mwangi.

M-PESA has over the years grown to become integral to Kenya's economy, with over 22 million customers already registered to the service.

SOURCE:CIO EAST AFRICA