Safaricom, Zain partner with IT firm to boost m-commerce

Paying for goods purchased online using mobile money transfer services has received a boost following a new agreement between an IT company and two leading mobile operators.

The deal enables Safaricom’s and Zain Kenya to hold on to a buyer’s money until they receive confirmation that the goods have been delivered.

This settles a challenge that online buyers have been facing of not being certain if the seller they are dealing with online will deliver the goods once payment has been made.

The move by Intrepid Data System allows those buying goods online to use either M-Pesa or Zap to receive payments for goods through their iPay platform.

The sellers are charged up to five per cent of the total value of goods bought through the system. However, this is after paying a one-off fee of Sh4,600.

The key differentiating factor in this deal is that money is only released after confirmation by the buyer that the goods have been delivered.

Intrepid Data System managing director Steve Nyumba says a major concern has been creating confidence to those buying goods online that their money was safe while using the mobile transfer system to pay the online merchants.

“We have entered into agreement with the Safaricom and Zain that allows them to hold the money for a period before it is released to the merchants,” said Mr Nyumba. “The time-frame depending on the volumes of trade and can be a weekly circle.”

However, this does not include those selling products that are on digital formats such as music stores, online book stores, publishers, video libraries, e-ticketing, donor supported organisations and the premium content providers.

The new platform is designed and targets those doing business online (merchants) to enable them receive payments through alternative means rather than the traditional method of credit cards.

Other advantage that comes with the iPay product includes the ability to track payments using the existing software as well as creating of printable receipts.

The latest initiative follows others that have been unveiled by other providers this month.

They include an online payment by I$M bank and another one by Kenya Data Networks.

The permanent secretary in the Information permanent secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo says the current rollout by online payment platform in the country now shows that the country is ripe for e-commerce.

This he says has been made possible by the improved telecommunication infrastructure following the rolling out of a national fibre backbone and the international fibre through Seacom and TEAMs this has not only provided stable connectivity but also seen the prices of bandwidth connectivity come down.