Opinion: Safaricom should ensure privacy of clients at Mpesa pay points

While I applaud Safaricom for widening the country‘s financial products through Mpesa, it is high time the privacy of clients was taken into consideration.

Visit any Safaricom agent and even customer care centres and you will hear customers telephone numbers, names and ID numbers being read aloud to all and sundry. This is happening in all lipa na Mpesa vendor outlets, petrol stations hence posing a security risk to clients.

Why should personal details of customers be read out to the public when confirming payment while depositing money, paying for goods in a supermarket or fueling? Why should someone hand over a phone to a total stranger to check Mpesa reference details?

I am not advocating for customers to write their details on papers like some banks. But Safaricom should work closely with IT experts, equipment manufacturers, vendors and agents to fully interface "buy goods“ options to tills, fuel pumps etc.

In the mean time Safaricom can consider introducing hand handheld electronic gadgets for customers to key in cash deposit requests at vendors or fingers print identifiers to protect privacy of clients.

In the meantime Safaricom should migrate all non-utility vendors clinging to the expensive "paybill“ to "buy goods“ option : Why should a customer pay Safaricom Sh22 to buy an item of Sh100 under paybill when it can cost Sh3 under "buy goods"?

 -Joe Musyoki Kitengela