Kenya’s largest telecom service provider has launched the much anticipated M-Pesa payment cards akin to Visa and Mastercard-enabled cards in Kenya. Dubbed M-Pesa 1 Tap, this supplementary electronic payment solution to the already massively popular M-Pesa mobile money network is expected to further boast security and convenience of Paying using M-Pesa.
M-Pesa One Tap and Go includes the card, a Wrist band and NFC badge. First launched successfully as a Pilot in Nakuru, M-Pesa 1 Tap will be rolling out country-wide with about 500,000 point of sale (POS) payment points in bars and restaurants, retail shops, fuel stations, among others. This is going to change everything.
How M-Pesa Tap & Go payment card works
M-Pesa tap and Go uses NFC standard to execute transactions. NFC has been around for a while and it’s been used on smartphones to share and transfer files between devices or Play music on wireless speakers.
M-Pesa tap and Go requires NFC-supported Point of Sales(POS) terminals at merchant shop. The POS units are really very small, much smaller than the Visa Card swiping ones you have seen at supermarket checkout points or at restaurants.
When a client walks in with their smartphones, they need to do is tap their NFC-enabled phone on the POS terminal, enter in their PIN and the payment will be made. However, if the customer does not have an NFC enabled device, they simply have to get an NFC STICKER that they can stick on the back of the phone, tap and enter the PIN to make payments. Alternatively they can also use wrist band offered by Safaricom.
M-Pesa 1 Tap is now available to all M-Pesa customers country-wide starting today.
Image: Techweez.com
