M-Pesa To Introduce Standing Orders

Safaricom has unveiled plans to introduce standing orders for its mobile money service, M-Pesa users. This initiative positions M-pesa as the world’s first mobile money platform to offer this option.

George Njuguna, Safaricom’s CIO, expressed that this feature will enable Kenyans using M-Pesa to access and pay for services conveniently. He emphasized its significance, saying, “This is the first initiative where you will have standing orders on a mobile platform – the first in the world, not just the first in Africa. We will implement it in other areas, such as health, to enhance accessibility and affordability.”

Standing orders in banking involve consistent, fixed payments on predetermined dates, allowing your bank to transfer funds from your account to another routinely. They are typically used for recurring expenses like rent, subscription fees, supplier payments, and other regular financial obligations.

Kenyans can utilize this new feature to pay for recurring financial commitments such as rent, insurance, and subscription services like Netflix. Additionally, it could facilitate “buy now pay later” (BNPL) purchases, a growing trend in Kenya.

Furthermore, this feature could assist Kenyans in paying off their outstanding digital loans, which often incur significant fines when payments are delayed due to borrowers forgetting the repayment dates.

The introduction of this feature is expected to streamline transactions for users of the M-Pesa app, which now boasts over 60 companies offering services on the platform. Safaricom reports that the M-Pesa Super App has seen remarkable growth, with over 3 million active customers, up from 1.2 million in April 2023. In the financial year leading up to April 2023, the Super App processed a staggering 489 million transactions, totalling over $9.22 billion in value, according to Safaricom’s latest financial report.

Safaricom has not yet provided a specific timeline for releasing the new standing order feature on M-Pesa.