Kenya: Safaricom and Apple to Work on MPESA Partnership, President Ruto Says

Nita Bhalla / Thomson Reuters Foundation
A customer checks her mobile money wallet at an M-Pesa booth in Nairobi (file photo).
17 September 2023
Capital FM (Nairobi)
By Irene Mwangi

Nairobi — Telecommunication giant, Safaricom, will be developing a partnership with Apple Inc. to integrate MPESA and its Paypal platform.

This is aimed at extending MPESA's transactional reach globally following the expansion of the App financial services to other countries.

President William Ruto made the announcement during the ongoing U.S.-African Business Roundtable.

"Likewise, Safaricom is developing a partnership with Apple Inc to integrate MPESA and its Paypal platform to extend MPESA's transactional reach globally," he said during his US tour.

Already, Safaricom and PayPal have a collaboration that allows movement of funds between M-PESA and PayPal accounts which has been hailed as a huge boost to international eCommerce.

Qualifying M-PESA customers in the country link their PayPal accounts to their M-PESA wallets, enabling them to easily and securely buy goods and services from merchants around the globe.

In addition, M-PESA customers can still receive and withdraw money from more than 140,000 agents across the country.

Mpesa now operates in seven countries, serving over 51 million customers. Other Safaricom global partnerships include AliExpress and Western Union, which enable customers to receive and send money globally.

"Venture capital flows to Kenya in large volumes because there is a conducive environment for innovators to test their products," President Ruto said.

Read the original article on Capital FM.

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