New payment platform takes on telcos, banks

A new payment platform has joined the scramble for Kenya’s youthful market in taking the battle to mobile money service providers and banks. 

Payless Africa, which launched its payment platform in Kenya this week, said it would offer free services for users transacting up to Sh1,000. It also said the transaction cost for sending money upwards of Sh1,000 would be 60 per cent of what the mainstream mobile money operations charge at the moment.

Kenyans aged between 15 and 35 make up 35 per cent of the population and remain an untapped market and present an opportunity for different sector players. The local banking sector as well as mobile money operators have been trying to lure them with different offerings specifically targeted at the youth market.

“Payless is poised to become a disruptive force in the payments landscape, heralding a new dawn for the vibrant, tech-savvy youth across Nairobi, Kenya and across Africa,” said founder and CEO Kev Muley on Tuesday.

“With its user-friendly mobile app and digital platforms, Payless Africa offers the most affordable comprehensive suite of financial services designed to meet the diverse needs of its customers.

“Our vision for Payless Africa is to provide a youth-centric, mobile-first seamless financial services to over 100 million unbanked and underserved youth in Africa, a population that will be 42 per cent of the global youth by 2030,” added Muley.

He said the youth form the firm’s core audience. He cited a study conducted last year in which four out of five individuals aged between 20 and 30 years described traditional banking as “uninspiring,” “inefficient,” and “outdated.”