According to MasterCard East Africa Vice President, James Wainaina, cited by the source, the rising trend in the electronic payments field offers merchants increased transactions as spending will not be limited to cash.
He also claims that the governments decision to migrate to the cashless payment in all public institutions is also playing a significant role with payments in the transport sector also migrating to cashless form. He also informs that contactless payment cards and tap-and-go devices will record higher penetration rate in 2014.
Wainaina informs that there are 12 million cards in the market but the usage is low. He projects that in 24 months, card volume spending will constitute the largest component than any e-payment method. Wainaina, based on reports for 2012, states that Kenya had an economy that was running on 97% cash transactions and that the market is in the emergent phase.
In 2013 public institutions were given up to April 1 to have electronic payment systems in place by the government, a yet to be fulfilled project. All Public Service Vehicles (PSV) are also set to operate a cashless fare payment system starting July 1, 2014.
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