Technology

TumaPesa helps mobile users send money, pay bills to right recipients

fabian

Fabian Kithusi, Ujuzi Code graphic designer and one of the brains behind the TumaPesa app. PHOTO | COURTESY

Five months before Safaricom launched a feature where customers can confirm the name of recipients, two techies had already developed an app meant to curb erroneous mobile cash transactions.

James Wahome and Fabian Kithusi are the brains behind TumaPesa, an app launched in May 2015, front running Safaricom which unveiled its own Hakikisha feature later in October.

The two techpreneurs wanted to solve a growing challenge brought about by mobile money — sending cash to the wrong person and then the laborious process to have it reversed.

Safaricom says it attends to an average of 12,000 cases daily of M-Pesa customers who accidentally send cash to unintended persons and businesses. One such person is Jude Mbithi, who has on numerous occasions send money to the wrong recipient while using M-Pesa.

However, this became history after he began using the TumaPesa application six months ago.

He says it is an innovation that bridges an existing gap in the market, serving a great purpose.

“This application saved me from losing money while paying bills or sending money.

“At the time I started using it, Safaricom had not come up with ‘Hakikisha’, that saves customers from making mistakes while sending money using M-Pesa,” Mr Mbithi, who is a marketer with Coca-Cola told the Business Daily.
 Mr Wahome is the lead developer while Mr Kithusi is the graphics designer at Ujuzi Code Ltd, the startup behind the TumaPesa app.

Mr Wahome says TumaPesa has nearly 100,000 users adding that the app helps Kenyans send their money to the right person and keep their contacts without losing them.

The app, developed by the local software development firm, explores a user’s SIM toolkit, enabling faster, accurate and easier mobile transactions.

Other than M-Pesa, the app that is available for free on Safaricom App store and Google Play Store, allows access to Airtel, Equitel, Tigo, Vodacom and MTN SIM cards in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Safaricom’s Hakikisha pop-up feature allows users confirm the identity of the intended recipient of cash and the business name in the case of Lipa na M-Pesa.

Consumers must dial the number 1 to stop a transaction within 15 seconds, failure to which Safaricom automatically wires the money.

TumaPesa runs on Android 2.2 operating system and above.

The app gives users access to mobile money SIM wallet and allows for copying of numbers from phone and SIM contact, for use while sending cash.  The platform also offers convenience in usage because the app automatically saves frequently used numbers. TumaPesa also saves Paybill or Lipa na M-Pesa till numbers, easing transactions.

Mr Mbithi, who has used the app for more than six months says he first uploaded it from the apps store.

The subscriber adds that he was a bit shy to use the app’s features fully after he downloaded, but restricted its use to sending money to people.

After he was accustomed to the app, he began using it to pay for all his bills including DStv bills, Zuku Internet, Safaricom Post Pay and sacco monthly contributions.

“It is simply convenient and I do not have to remember a number or Pay Bill and account details to use it, all these are stored in the app’s database,” says Mr Mbithi.

He told the Business Daily that to send money, for instance, the user has to select the name of the person using the app, which it gives on a list that one can choose from. This is because the names are already synchronised with SIM and phone contacts on the user’s phone.

The user then selects the recipient’s phone number and clicks the send money button. At this point the app requires the sender to enter the phone number and it provides additional instructions on sending the money.

Other setbacks that users could face with the app is its lack of for dual SIM card usage. The app is designed to pick up only one SIM that is in the first slot, if the phone in use is a dual SIM.

From reviews by users of the app, they suggest that the app could be better too if it served the purpose of withdrawing money. Users have also recommended enhancements to the app to allow for reminders that prompt them to pay up bills.

“All it does is copy paste, Safaricom’s M-Ledger gives you all Pay Bill numbers and on top calculates the rates for you, I think you can do a little more with the app,” says a review by Dennis Henry on Google Play store.

Ujuzi says the loopholes being pointed out by users are positive in building up the app to offer much better user experience.

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