The news
- M-PESA, Safaricom’s mobile money platform, has secured another partnership with Visa to issue physical debit cards to customers.
- This new development marks a step forward for the payment giant in broadening its service offerings beyond its virtual offering, which had previously lagged in the cash-reliant retail industry.
- M-PESA’s 60 million customers can use the new physical cards to pay across the eight countries in which M-PESA operates.
In June 2022, the Kenyan fintech company partnered with Visa to launch the M-PESA GlobalPay Visa Virtual Card, empowering over 30 million M-PESA customers to shop globally and pay securely at the time.
But this virtual card could only be used online, rendering it inefficient at the country’s ubiquitous physical retail stores.
However, launching these physical cards marks M-PESA and Visa”s second collaboration in less than two years to enhance international payments. It also bodes well for M-PESA, which has transformed digital payments in Kenya but has yet to penetrate the country’s retail space.
In Kenya, debit cards are still uncommon. With a countrywide debit card penetration of only 22%, M-PESA is still in its early stages. The fintech company leads the Kenyan mobile money market share at 96.5%, positioning it to solve payments in the country that require physical debit cards.
Vodafone and Safaricom, Kenya’s largest mobile operator, launched M-PESA in 2007. In 16 years, the mobile money platform has expanded to Tanzania, DR Congo, Egypt, South Africa, Ghana, Mozambique, and Lesotho.
The mobile money platform says it has over 60 million customers, 5 million businesses, and 100,000 developers across its entire ecosystem. Although the mobile money market in Kenya is dominated by Safaricom’s M-PESA, it has other players, including Airtel Money and Orange Money.
It remains to be seen whether M-PESA will be able to replicate its digital success in the country’s cash-based retail market.
In February 2023, M-PESA announced its partnership with Amazon to provide global remittance services.
