Visa and Safaricom Expand Payment Options for Kenyan Merchants

Visa, a global leader in digital payments, has awarded Safaricom, Kenya’s leading telecommunications company, a payment facilitator certificate. This significant milestone marks a key advancement in their ongoing collaboration to enhance payment acceptance options for Safaricom merchants.

The partnership aims to strengthen Safaricom’s merchant ecosystem by expanding payment acceptance options, including the introduction of card payments that support all card networks through Visa’s CyberSource Payment Gateway. This project is a continuation of a long-term collaboration that began with the successful launch of the M-PESA GlobalPay Virtual Visa Card in June 2022.

Safaricom merchants will now be able to offer a wider range of payment options to their customers, including card payments. This will not only improve customer satisfaction but also increase merchants’ sales and revenue. By leveraging Visa’s payment technology, Safaricom merchants can provide a more efficient and secure payment experience to their customers.

Visa and Safaricom have committed to expanding their partnership further and introducing new payment solutions to the market. Chad Pollock, general manager and vice president of Visa East Africa, expressed his excitement about the collaboration, stating, “This partnership underscores our commitment to providing cutting-edge payment solutions that drive growth and efficiency for merchants. While in 2022 we opened the M-PESA consumers to the world with the GlobalPay Visa Virtual Card, we are now giving over 600,000 merchants access to the world of consumers.”

Esther Waititu, CFO of Safaricom, echoed Pollock’s sentiments, emphasizing the importance of the partnership in enhancing Safaricom’s payment capabilities. “Our partnership with Visa has been instrumental in enhancing our payment capabilities,” she said. “The introduction of card payments through Visa’s Cybersource gateway is a testament to our shared vision of empowering merchants with diverse and secure payment options.”

This collaboration between Visa and Safaricom is a significant step forward in the digitalization of payments in Kenya and demonstrates the growing importance of partnerships in driving innovation and growth in the financial services sector.