PayPal teams with Safaricom for M-Pesa of mind
PayPal and Safaricom have partnered to let Kenyans move money between their M-Pesa and PayPal accounts.
Their plan is to remove “significant barriers that have hindered consumers and businesses in the country from taking full advantage of global e-commerce”.
Joseph Ogutu, director of strategy, Safaricom adds the deal will “open up global marketplaces and the global economy to millions of Kenyan and Kenyan-based businesses and individuals”.
TransferTo operates a cross-border mobile payments network for emerging markets and is the technology partner underpinning this collaboration.
The service is now live and available to all Kenyans with qualifying accounts.
Safaricom says it has over 29.5 million subscribers with 200,000 “touch points” for its customers.
The African attraction
The payments scene in Africa is always looking lively as firms attempt to get a foothold or strengthen their positions. A few recent examples are below.
Last month, London-based SimbaPay launched an artificial intelligence (AI) powered chatbot service to offer international money transfers via an SMS.
Also in March, South Africa-based Absa Bank unleashed its new Sling Pay app that allows users to send money, data and airtime.
