Safaricom targets matatus with M-Pesa pay bill service

Nzioka Waita, Safaricom’s corporate affairs director. He said the firm is eyeing the matatu industry with a service that will enable commuters to pay fares using mobile money through M-Pesa pay bill numbers. Photo/File 

By DAVID HERBLING

In Summary

• The telco said special till numbers will be allocated to public service vehicle (PSV) operators to allow commuters make payments without incurring transaction charges.
• The mobile-based fare payment solution will compete with Equity Bank and Google’s BebaPay, a pre-paid plastic card used to settle public transport bills

Safaricom is eyeing the matatu industry with a service that will enable commuters to pay fares using mobile money through M-Pesa pay bill numbers.

The telco said special till numbers will be allocated to public service vehicle (PSV) operators to allow commuters make payments without incurring transaction charges.

“We are currently also looking at entrenching the use of M-Pesa within public transport sector,” said Nzioka Waita, Safaricom’s director of corporate affairs.

Mr Waita did not give timelines for the planned service that will be rolled out under the Lipa Na M-Pesa scheme.

READ: Safaricom takes on plastic money with mobile wallet

Safaricom is seeking to raise earnings from the multi-billion-shilling matatu industry where PSV owners will pay the telco a commission of one per cent based on the value of each transaction.

The new service will see it target about 22,052 PSV licensed operators in Kenya, according to data from the Traffic Licensing Board.

The mobile-based fare payment solution will compete with Equity Bank and Google’s BebaPay, a pre-paid plastic card used to settle public transport bills.

BebaPay, launched in April, uses Near Field Communication (NFC) technology dubbed ‘tap and go’ where users pat the card on an NFC-enabled phone to make payments.

READ: Equity, Google launch prepaid commuter cards

Safaricom’s planned entry into bus fare payments using mobile money extends the firm’s bid to increase M-Pesa usage, having launched payment schemes such as Lipa Kodi for rent, Lipa Karo for schools fees and Lipa Na M-Pesa for retailers.

Kenya’s road passenger transport business is valued at Sh205 billion, dominated by matatus, buses, motorcycles (boda bodas) and three-wheelers popularly known as tuk tuks.

This means Safaricom and Equity Bank stand to potentially rake in more than Sh2 billion annually in revenues by processing fare payments for PSV operators. 

Safaricom’ revenues from M-Pesa stood at Sh21.8 billion in the year ended, growing 30 per cent compared to Sh16.8 billion a year earlier.

This saw M-Pesa’s contribution to Safaricom’s total sales rise to 17.5 per cent from 15.7 per cent a year earlier.