This is a household name in Kenya, because the initial concept and design was Kenyan. M-pesa literally translates to M (Mobile)-PESA (money).M-pesa is a branchless banking service because even people at the most remote of places can access it without stepping foot in the doors of a bank branch. In Kenya M-pesa is operated by Safaricom, a mobile network operator and it initially set foot in Kenya around March 2007. M-pesa mainly operates in Kenya, Tanzania & Afghanistan but plans are underway to expand the service to countries like, India, Egypt and South Africa. M-pesa enables its users to:
- Deposit and transfer money to other users and non-users. One can transfer money for as low as Kshs 100/-
- Pay Bills e.g. Water and electricity. Remember the long queues at KPLC (Kenya power & lighting corporations) offices; well that is becoming history thanks to M-pesa.
- Purchase airtime – Its 2.00 am, you have an emergency and you have run out of airtime on your phone.
Don’t worry no more, just purchase airtime through M-pesa. How convenient!
Safaricom customers can sign-up for free for the new banking and payment services by completing an application form and handing it over to registered M-pesa agents in towns and cities across their specific countries.
The uses of M-pesa are not defined because everyday companies and institutions are teaming their services with M-pesa to enable more efficiency, so just don’t close this chapter yet, because soon you may find yourself using M-pesa to purchase items on e-bay!!Big up M-pesa!
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