Safaricom and Pesapal roll out scan, tap and AI powered M-PESA payments in Kenya

Safaricom and Pesapal have announced a new partnership to roll out next generation M-PESA payment experiences in Kenya, introducing dynamic QR code payments, NFC based Tap to Pay and AI assisted payments for businesses and consumers.

The collaboration combines Safaricom’s M-PESA payment platform with Pesapal’s merchant payment infrastructure and POS devices, with the companies aiming to reduce manual entry and make checkout transactions faster and simpler.

One of the key additions is Dynamic Scan to Pay. Customers can scan a QR code displayed on a Pesapal POS device, with the merchant’s M-PESA details and transaction amount automatically populated for verification before payment.

The system builds on Safaricom’s existing Scan to Pay service, which links QR codes directly to merchant M-PESA Till Numbers.

Safaricom says Scan to Pay is already available at more than 60,000 merchant outlets across Kenya and is targeting expansion to 500,000 outlets within the next year.

Tap to Pay brings another payment option to Pesapal terminals. Customers with NFC enabled smartphones can tap their phone against a compatible Pesapal POS device, verify the transaction details and complete their M-PESA payment.

“Tap-to-Pay and Scan-to-Pay on the Pesapal POS represent the biggest leap in Kenya’s checkout experience in years,” said Agosta Liko, founder of Pesapal. “Thousands of businesses trust our platform, and by teaming up with Safaricom, we are delivering the faster, error-free transactions their customers expect.”

M-PESA is also getting AI Pay

Safaricom is separately introducing AI Pay through My OneApp, which the company says has surpassed seven million downloads.

Instead of manually entering payment details, customers can use their smartphone camera to scan a receipt, including printed and handwritten receipts.

Where the required information is available, AI Pay identifies the relevant M-PESA Till or PayBill details and payment amount before automatically populating the transaction fields. The customer can then verify the information before completing the payment.

The feature is designed to address one of the more cumbersome parts of mobile money payments, where users typically need to manually enter Till Numbers, PayBill numbers, account details and transaction amounts.

James Maitai, Group Chief Technology Officer at Safaricom, said the company is looking beyond simply facilitating transactions as consumer payment behaviour changes.

“As the way Kenyans shop and transact continues to evolve, we are focused on ensuring that M-PESA evolves with them,” Maitai said. “This means moving beyond simply enabling payments to reimagining the payment experience itself.”

The partnership represents a broader push to make M-PESA work more like modern contactless and digital wallet payment systems at physical checkout points, while retaining the mobile money infrastructure already widely used by Kenyan consumers and businesses.

Pesapal’s existing POS footprint gives Safaricom another channel through which to deploy the new experiences. The companies say they will continue expanding the services as adoption grows.

For merchants, the most significant change is the reduction in information customers need to enter manually. Dynamic QR codes can carry both merchant and transaction information, while NFC enables a tap based interaction. AI Pay tackles a similar problem from another direction by extracting payment information directly from receipts.

Together, the three approaches represent Safaricom’s attempt to streamline different stages of the M-PESA checkout experience without requiring customers to move away from the mobile money platform they already use.

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