Safaricom and Visa launch M-Pesa Global Pay Visa Virtual Card

Safaricom and Visa launch M-Pesa Global Pay Visa Virtual Card Safaricom has entered an agreement with Visa to form M-Pesa GlobalPay Visa Virtual card which will see the mobile phone-based money transfer service transact in 200 countries. This will allow customers to transact up to Sh150,000 ($1,28370) per payment and Sh300,000 ($2,567.3) per day. The deal is expected to shore Safaricom’s earnings from the mobile money services at a time M-Pesa revenues have been growing steadily. “By partnering with Visa to provide the M-Pesa GlobalPay Visa virtual card, we are…

Free calls and data as Safaricom turns 20

Free calls and data as Safaricom turns 20 Telecommunication giant Safaricom has announced to give away free calls and data for its loyal customers at its Safaricom 20 birthday celebrations at the Serena Hotel, Nairobi. Safaricom which enjoys about 35 million subscribers in Kenya said all its customers will be enjoying free calls of up to 20 minutes within the next 30 days as they celebrate 20 years of service. Ndegwa said, “Each customer will receive a notification a day before to alert them of their free calls. Customers who…

Safaricom’s Zuri Migrates from Facebook to WhatsApp

Zuri

Zuri, has migrated from Facebook messenger to Whatsapp. Facebook, still a top tier app in Kenya in terms of popularity, is not Kenya’s most popular conversation and chatting app. In that regard, Whatsapp is. Hence the reason why Safaricom have moved Zuri to Whatsapp. Allowing more Kenyans to access it, and use the chatbot to its full capabilities. Through the creation of Safaricom’s chatbot, the precedence of AI in Kenya has taken a new turn. With Safaricom being the trail blazer in a constantly changing Kenyan tech space, AI has…

Safaricom to roll out their 5G Network this year

Safaricom

Kenya’s biggest telecom carrier,safaricom as they roll out their 5G network this year. Michael Joseph, Safaricom’s Acting CEO said this this week according to Business Daily. He said this at a time where Huawei has been under criticism by the US authorities over them building 5G networks, citing security concerns. “We will use Huawei in 5G. What will we do in terms of the American statements about not using Huawei? We don’t have that situation in Africa,” Michael Joseph was quoted as saying. Huawei has been battling the United States…

Samsung partners with Safaricom and M-kopa

Samsung

Technology firm Samsung has partnered with Safaricom and M-Kopa to roll out a Pay-As-You-Go mobile phone solution in Kenya. This initiative is described as a world first mobile security solution enabling carriers, financial partners and retailers running installment plans to remotely manage Samsung devices. The initiative will leverage the benefits of Safaricom’s fast 4G data network and service in Kenya. Essentially, the pay-as-you-go initiative will enable carriers and dealers to expand their current customer base with lower upfront fees and interest rates. It offers customers the opportunity to access a…

Safaricom and M-Gas Launched Prepaid Gas

M-Gas Mpesa Central Bank of Kenya

Safaricom and M-Gas have launched prepaid gas service for Kenyan households. This is expected to empower millions of Kenyan homes to enjoy access to clean, affordable and reliable cooking gas, providing them with the flexibility of purchasing gas based on their needs and how much they can afford at a time. M-Gas is tackling existing access barriers to clean cooking by eradicating both the upfront cost required for a gas cylinder and gas cooker, often more than Sh6,000 and the high refill cost of Sh2,000 per cylinder. Safaricom’s partnership with…

Safaricom Launches Lipa Na M-Pesa promotion

M-Gas Mpesa Central Bank of Kenya

Safaricom has launched an eight week Lipa Na M-Pesa promotion that will reward both customers and merchants for making and receiving payments through the service. Buyers and sellers will receive 1 point for every KES 100 payment with customers standing to win one of 6 houses in weekly draws. The promotion runs until March 5th 2020 and will reward both customers and merchants in 8 regions across the country. In the grand finale, customers across the 8 regions will win one of 8 tractors each equipped with a plough and…

Safaricom invites bids of a location tracking platform

Safaricom

Safaricom has invited bids to seek suppliers of a location tracking and intelligence platform. In a bid notice, they express interest to take advantage of a location intelligence system which will help them build customer profiles based on their location, according to Business Daily. “Consequently, the evolution of the mobile network and devices has enabled Safaricom to gather information from the connected devices. At the core of any reliably connected device is an accurate location intelligence system,” the bid notice said. According to the latest sector statistics by the Communications Authority,…

Vodacom and Safaricom in a bid to buy M-Pesa brand from parent company Vodafone

Vodacom

Vodacom and Safaricom are in the process of buying the M-Pesa brand from parent company Vodafone, in a deal reportedly worth over R190 million. Vodacom mentioned the deal in its recent full year results announcement, saying it expected the acquisition of the popular mobile money service to “further accelerate our mobile money growth plans in Africa”. Vodacom group CEO Shameel Joosub confirmed the plans in an interview with ITWeb, saying Vodacom, through a joint agreement with Safaricom, has done a deal with Vodafone to “take over M-Pesa completely”. “So, Safaricom…

Safaricom faces $4.5 million fine $4.5 million for failing to connect smaller firms

Airlines

Kenya’s biggest telco Safaricom may be fined about $4.5 million by the regulator for failing to connect calls made to smaller firms, according to company and regulatory documents reviewed by Reuters. The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has imposed a fine on Safaricom, part-owned by South Africa’s Vodacom and Britain’s Vodafone, of 0.2 percent of its gross revenue for the last financial year, equivalent to 449 million shillings ($4.5 million), the documents show. Safaricom denies the accusation and has secured a temporary suspension of the fine pending a hearing before…