Safaricom tweaks M-Pesa

 Kenyan mobile network operator, Safaricom, has tweaked its M-Pesa money transfer system to eradicate losses of money when a mistake is made while entering a number.

M-Pesa customers will be able to add the name of the intended recipient of funds before completing the transaction. Hakikisha, which is Swahili for “make sure”, has been piloted for a month and will be rolled out in phases to the 21.7 million M-Pesa customers by October 30.

Safaricom receives thousands of complaints from M-Pesa customers every month seeking to have transactions reversed. “While a majority of these are resolved successfully, we appreciate that this is a major inconvenience for our customers,” said Safaricom’s director of financial services, Betty Mwangi, who added that other initiatives were being developed to improve service to customers.

The new pop-up feature will also appear when customers are making payments to Lipa Na M-Pesa (the option to pay a bill), and M-Pesa agents will also benefit from the function when depositing funds via customer numbers.

Launched eight years ago, the world leading M-Pesa is the preferred mobile money solution in Kenya, with more than 13.9 million Kenyans using the service at least once a month. It is supported by a network of 85 000 agents.

SOURCE:CAJ NEWS