Safaricom and MasterCard want to boost remittance payments in Kenya

The second-largest payments network, ranked behind Visa, in the global payments industry, Mastercard and a purpose-led telecommunication and technology company providing a wide range of services and solutions, Safaricom have partnered to expand digital payment acceptance and cross-border remittance services to mobile money agents and merchants in Kenya.

Both companies, Safaricom and MasterCard, will utilized their payment infrastructure to render financial services to payment acceptance and cross-border remittance services to hundreds of thousands of merchants in Kenya.

In other words, the strategic partnership between Safaricom and MasterCard will leverage the telecom’s mobile money service, M-PESA, alongside Mastercard's global payment infrastructure to boost digital payment solutions and financial inclusion in the country.

This collaboration comes at the right time; the business partnership/collaboration is happening at a time when mobile wallet payments made through M-PESA are seeing surge in Kenya. Precisely, the total value or volume of payments through M-PESA is increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7% over the period from 2020 to 2024.

This growth rate shows a consistent and significant increase in the usage of M-PESA for mobile wallet payments during these years.

The business partnership between Safaricom and MasterCard also aligns with Safaricom’s mission of delivering innovative and customer-centric products that enhance the efficiency of Kenyan businesses.

However, you should also understand that this business partnership is not only about improving and boosting merchant/agent payments and cross-border remittances; it’s also meant to supports and surge Kenya’s long-term economic growth. The initiative is also intended to begin commence in the coming months