Safaricom sets Dec target for photo ID registration

Telecommunications firm Safaricom #ticker:SCOM has set a target to finish photo registration of its 19 million active M-Pesa users by December.

The company which began the electronic subscriber registration of its 28.1 million customers early this year using 25,000 pre-programmed smartphones says the move is aimed at complying with the law as well as curbing M-Pesa fraud perpetuated through stolen handsets.

READ: Safaricom goes for photo IDs to block M-Pesa fraud

“We began the electronic subscriber registration early this year. The rollout and training of our agents and dealers is ongoing and we aim to finalise this by December 2017,” said Safaricom. “The plan is to cover all our customer registration points.”

The telecommunications firm is banking on a digital database with photos of subscribers to ease service delivery as customer care representatives and agents will find it easier to verify paper identification before authorising any transaction.

The electronic subscriber registration, whose cost the telco has not disclosed, will see agents using an application in the special phones to key in customers’ registration details then taking a photo of the documents and the person registering.

Details of the customers will then be verified immediately as the smartphone is linked to the government’s Registrar of Persons database.

The agent and the customer will then sign to complete the process.

“The big win from this process is the photo evidence of the person registering. This will eliminate use of stolen personal identification documentation to commit fraud,” said Safaricom.