The card is currently in its pilot stage and it is expected to challenge commercial banks for card commissions, according to qz.com. The pilot phase is currently being conducted among Safaricom staff, with plans to extend the service to university students, ITWeb Africa reports. It is linked to its Lipa na M-Pesa (pay with M-Pesa) service, which enables traders and individuals to settle bills at different points of sale across the country.
The current payment set-up using M-Pesa is much slower as it requires users to follow through several stages before a transaction is completed.
Safaricom launched Lipa Na M-Pesa in 2013 to facilitated purchase of goods and service through the mobile phone. By the end of March 2016, payments worth USD 200 million had been made through the platform at over 44,000 merchant outlets.
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