Kenya: Mobile Banking Time on M-Pesa Now Instantaneous

MAY 06,2014.

CIO EAST AFRICA.

Transaction time on the mobile banking platform M-Pesa will now be instantaneous from the previous 2 hours after a system upgrade on the application programmable interface (API).

Safaricom says the new platform allows for the streamlining of operations for businesses which disburse staff salaries through MPesa, receive payments and those that transfer cash through the platform regularly.

"Innovation is a continuous process at Safaricom and that is why we have been seeking ways to deliver services to customers with speed and efficiency. Twelve leading banks and 26 SACCOs have already migrated to the new platform and migration is on-going for 30 other institutions," said Safaricom's Chief Executive Officer Bob Collymore.

Collymore adds that this will in effect help entrench the move towards a cash-lite society through a more effective mobile-banking proposition.

Safaricom through the general manager for financial services Betty Mwangi adds that the upgrade will also improve efficiency and convenience among its customers.

"The advent of M-PESA provided Kenyans with an unprecedented degree of financial liberation and the pressure is therefore on us to stay ahead of the market by continuously coming up with innovations that respond to or predict market needs." She says.

Safaricom projects that more than 13 million Kenyans will be on mobile banking by the close of 2014.