Safaricom introduces real time price checks on M-Pesa

Safaricom has updated its mobile money transfer service Mpesa to enable customers to automatically receive information on the cost of each transaction.

As part of its drive to enhance pricing transparency on the payment platform, the updates will be made available to all 24 million Mpesa customers in three phases, with the first phase starting this week.

“We hope that this latest innovation will enhance the customer experience on the Mpesa platform. This follows a number of proactive enhancements we have delivered on Mpesa such as Hakikisha which have reduced the number of erroneous transactions,” said Stephen Chege, Director – Corporate Affairs, Safaricom.

Set to be rolled out in three phases, customers will first receive notifications on charges paid for a transaction as part of the Mpesa confirmation message. In the second phase, customers will receive a pop up message informing them of any charges prior to the transactions, while the third phase will see the service being made available to value-added Mpesa financial products including M-Shwari, KCB Mpesa, Okoa Stima and M-Tiba.

The second and third phases of the update will be rolled out in coming months.