Visa Rolls Out Free Person-to-Person Digital Payments In Kenya

Visa, the credit card company, is enabling customers of Kenya Visa-affiliated banks to send online payments without paying transactions fees.

According to a news report citing Visa, the digital payments have to be through mVisa domestically.

Last year, the credit card company rolled out mVisa, which is a QR code digital payment service aimed at boosting mobile sales in Kenya and around Africa. With the new feature, customers get free person-to-person (P2P) transactions via nine Kenyan banks. The banks include Barclays Bank, Cooperative Bank, Ecobank, Family Bank, KCB Bank, National Bank of Kenya, NIC Bank, Prime Bank and Standard Chartered Bank.

Users are able to send money via the mobile app from their bank to the person’s bank account even if they don’t have a mobile phone or use mVisa. What’s more, the report noted that mVisa will be accepted at thousands of retailers in Kenya with some of the ones participating including Nakumatt, KenolKobil, IMAX Theaters, EatOut, Zucchini, Little Cab, Kenya Airways and Bata.

Back in 2015, Visa rolled out mVisa, testing it first in India before rolling it out around the globe. “India has fast become one of the world’s most important technology epicenters with an incredible pool of technology talent,” said Charlie Scharf, CEO of Visa Inc. at the time. “Our new center in Bangalore, which complements others planned for Singapore and the U.S., will help Visa to accelerate the development of next generation payment solutions that enable secure, digital commerce through connected devices like mobile phones, PCs, tablets and even cars.”

The online payment service lets customers of participating banks make purchases in-store or online, pay bills and move directly through P2P transfers. By downloading the mVisa app on either a smart or feature phone, a consumer can then link that device to any type of Visa account — debit, credit or prepaid. Once the app is active, consumers can initiate a transfer of funds to a merchant, utility or P2P mVisa account holder. Transactions are processed via Visa’s global network, VisaNet.