Safaricom and payment gateway provider Pesapal are expanding M-PESA’s payment capabilities across Kenya through a new rollout designed to make everyday transactions faster and more convenient for businesses and consumers.
The collaboration introduces enhanced Scan-to-Pay and Tap-to-Pay functionality on Pesapal’s physical point-of-sale (POS) terminals, building on Safaricom’s continued efforts to expand the ways customers can use M-PESA for everyday payments.
The latest initiative comes as payment revenues remain a major contributor to M-PESA’s business, accounting for 74.4% of its total income, according to Safaricom’s latest financial reports.
M-PESA commands an 89.1% market share in Kenya and serves more than 40.9 million active monthly users, according to the company’s latest figures.
During the financial year, the platform processed 46.41 billion transactions valued at KSh41.68 trillion, equivalent to an average of approximately 136 million transactions per day.
Expanding M-PESA Across Physical Checkout Terminals
Through its partnership with Pesapal, Safaricom is extending M-PESA payment experiences into more physical retail environments.
Pesapal brings its merchant payment infrastructure to the partnership through approximately 30,000 existing physical checkout terminals. These POS devices will support enhanced M-PESA payment options, including Dynamic Scan-to-Pay and Tap-to-Pay.
The Dynamic Scan-to-Pay feature builds on Safaricom’s existing Scan-to-Pay service. Instead of scanning a QR code linked directly to a merchant’s M-PESA Till Number, customers can scan a dynamic QR code displayed on a Pesapal POS terminal.
According to Safaricom, the feature is already available at more than 60,000 merchant outlets, with the companies targeting 500,000 outlets within the next year as the deployment of Pesapal POS devices expands.
The outlet and terminal figures refer to different aspects of the rollout: the 30,000 figure relates to Pesapal’s existing physical checkout terminals, while the 60,000-plus figure refers to merchant outlets where the payment functionality is already available.
Tap-to-Pay Adds Contactless Option
The partnership also introduces Tap-to-Pay, allowing customers with near-field communication (NFC)-enabled smartphones to make payments through Pesapal POS terminals.
Customers can tap a compatible smartphone against a Pesapal terminal, verify the transaction details and complete the payment.
The service provides another contactless payment option for M-PESA customers while expanding the ways merchants can accept digital payments at physical checkout points.
Safaricom Seeks to Evolve M-PESA Experience
Safaricom Group Chief Technology Officer James Maitai said the partnership reflects the company’s efforts to ensure M-PESA continues to evolve alongside changing consumer shopping and payment habits.
“As the way Kenyans shop and transact continues to evolve, we are focused on ensuring that M-PESA evolves with them. This means moving beyond simply enabling payments to reimagining the payment experience itself.”
Maitai described the partnership with Pesapal as an important part of that process, bringing together the capabilities of both companies to develop new payment experiences for everyday transactions.
Pesapal Highlights Faster Checkout
Pesapal founder Agosta Liko said the integration is aimed at helping businesses provide faster and more efficient checkout experiences.
“Tap-to-Pay and Scan-to-Pay on the Pesapal POS represent the biggest leap in Kenya’s checkout experience in years.”
Liko said thousands of businesses already rely on Pesapal’s platform and that its collaboration with Safaricom would help deliver faster transactions to their customers.
Expanding Kenya’s Digital Payments Ecosystem
The partnership comes as digital payments continue to play a central role in Kenya’s commercial ecosystem, with M-PESA serving millions of consumers and businesses across the country.
By combining M-PESA’s extensive customer base with Pesapal’s merchant payment infrastructure, the companies are extending mobile money payment capabilities into physical retail environments.
The introduction of Dynamic Scan-to-Pay and Tap-to-Pay gives consumers additional options at checkout while providing merchants with more ways to accept M-PESA payments.
With the companies targeting 500,000 merchant outlets within the next year, the rollout represents a further expansion of M-PESA’s presence across Kenya’s physical and digital payment landscape.
