PesaPoint eyes M-Pesa in new deal
Safaricom, the listed mobile service provider will on Wednesday sign an agreement with ATM service provider PesaPoint.
The deal will allow M-Pesa customers withdraw money through PesaPoint ATMs.
Further, M-Pesa customers will not need a card to access money in the 110 PesaPoint ATMs spread across the country, according to sources conversant with the deal.
However, further details are expected during the signing at Safaricom House, Nairobi.
Safaricom launched M-Pesa in March 2007 as a mobile phone payment service to enable customers make financial transactions including money transfer.
M-Pesa allows one to deposit, withdraw and transfer money and also buy Safaricom pre-paid airtime.
Users deposit their money with authorised M-Pesa agents and make withdrawals from the mobile service provider’s M-Pesa agents.
However, to extend M-Pesa, Safaricom has signed agreements with Equity Bank, Post Bank and mortgage provider Housing Finance to use their wide network across the country as outlets for M-Pesa.
Registered in 2005, PesaPoint’s vision was to provide all banked Kenyans easy access to their funds wherever and whenever it was required whilst at the same time encouraging more Kenyans to bank by providing relevant and convenient ATM locations.
The strategy of the business has been to maximise the use of one infrastructure for multiple financial institutions, which would provide economy of scale particularly in marginal areas and give the financial institutions an opportunity to provide ATM services to their customers while still concentrating on their core business.
PesaPoint has been accepted by internationally renowned brands MasterCard, JCB, American Express and Visa.
M-Pesa started as a project funded by UK government’s Department for International Development and British telecommunications giant Vodafone as a trial scheme where the mobile phone could be used to access financial services in East Africa.
Vodafone Kenya owns 40 per cent of Safaricom while the Government controls 35 per cent after selling to the public its 25 per cent holding three months ago.
