Family Bank links up with Visa for mobile payments

Family Bank has partnered with international electronic payments company Visa to develop a payment application that connects customers’ accounts and ATM cards with their mobile phones.

The bank’ customers who have the PesaPap and mVisa applications will pay for goods and services by swiping their mobile phones at point-of-sale terminals of registered businesses.

The lender Thursday said it has already registered 1,000 merchants on mVisa including supermarkets, salons, restaurants, butcheries and grocery shops.

“This new service will enable customers to send and receive funds from other Visa account holders worldwide as well as withdraw and deposit cash to and from their accounts at mVisa agent outlets,” said Family Bank managing director David Thuku during Thursday’s launch of the application.

Family Bank aims to make the mVisa payment option available at most small and medium enterprises to make it convenient for its customers to pay for goods and services that they need on a daily basis. 

To place a purchase on the mVisa application, a user has to key in the merchant’s ID or scan the QR code displayed at the merchant location using the mobile app. The bank launched the service at Ashley’s Executive Barbershop along Kimathi Street.

It has set a target to register hundreds of thousands of merchants on the mVisa platform.

Transactions via mVisa are deemed more secure since they are initiated by customers who enter their details, reducing chances of fraud.

The payment platform targets all Kenyans with both smart phones and basic mobile phone who can access it using a USSD code, giving the lender a wider customer base. 

It eliminates the use of a point of sale device which is expensive to a majority of SMEs, costing Sh50,000, while mVisa only requires a mobile phone.

Kenya Power plans to use mVisa to enable its millions of pre-paid meter customers pay for their bills using the application.

“We have millions of customers paying their bills through the pre-paid meters, we are willing to take up the service, come and grow with us,” said Kenya Power managing director Ben Chumo during Thursday’s launch.