Safaricom and Visa, the global leader in digital payments have unveiled the M-Pesa visa virtual card to make payments easier for Kenyans shopping abroad.
Safaricom noted that the new M-Pesa Visa virtual cards would allow Kenyans to purchase globally by facilitating safe cashless payments at merchant locations in over 200 countries via Visa’s worldwide network.
“M-PESA has over the past fifteen years evolved from a simple money transfer service to become a robust payment platform and driver of financial inclusion for Kenyans. This has paved the way for numerous innovative services and by partnering with Visa to provide the M-PESA GlobalPay Visa virtual card, we are looking to bridge the gap for our customers who would like to use M-PESA anywhere across the world,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom.
During the launch, Corine Mbiaketcha, Visa Vice President and General Manager for East Africa, said that Visa is committed to extending the payments ecosystem across Africa by allowing every customer access to the global marketplace.
“By leveraging our vast global network and experience as well as Safaricom’s local know-how and large subscriber base, we are charting a new path for digital payments. We remain optimistic that this partnership will go a long way in opening the global e-commerce market to Kenya’s significant unbanked and underbanked population,” she added.
Either solution will necessitate the usage of the customer’s secret M-PESA PIN. The customer can then access their Mini-Statement, examine their card details, and produce the “CVV” required to confirm online card transactions, manage their cards, set up repeat payments, and access their Mini-Statement.
Customers would be protected from FX conversion expenses on local online payments billed in Kenya Shillings using the M-PESA GlobalPay Visa Virtual Card exclusively for international, online payments outside the country.
The M-Pesa platform’s transaction limitations in local Kenyan currency will be 150,000 shillings ($1,285) for a single transaction and a daily maximum of double that. The virtual card will be usable while traveling internationally.
A unique security code will protect the virtual card’s transactions supplied to the user’s mobile phone and M-Pesa personal identification number.
