Safaricom to add NFC payment option to M-Pesa

A new report has revealed that Safaricom is reportedly seeking to add NFC payment capabilities to its money transfer service, M-Pesa.

Near field communication (NFC) payment is a contact-less payment system for smartphones and similar devices which uses radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into proximity, usually no more than a few inches.

The project is still undergoing the tendering process, and will see Safaricom become the first mobile operator in the region to mass-deploy SIM-based NFC for contactless transactions.

Safaricom is expected to build an NFC infrastructure countrywide, just like it did with its mobile money agents so as its subscribers can pay for services and buy goods anywhere in the country. This service will be a futuristic step ahead of its Lipa na M-PESA service whose adoption was growing steadily, countrywide.

Safaricom will have to convince service providers to come onboard to accept mobile phone NFC swipes than the normal Lipa na M-PESA.

The NFC wallet will be on Safaricom subscribers’ SIM cards and will be as simple as it is to activate M-PESA.

Source: Tech Moran