CEO Weekends: Mobicash Launches Lipa Sasa Na MobiKash to Take on Lipa na M-PESA

 In a move set to change ways Kenyans transfer money and do transactions, MobiKash Afrika today launched a cross-platform merchant payment service to deliver mobile money transactions in real time for all.

Dubbed Lipa Sasa Na MobiKash, the new service is accessible from any Lipa Sasa Na MobiKash agent by dialing *365# across all networks and following instructions on the Pay Now Option. Lipa Sasa Na MobiKash aims at making cashless transactions a reality for all Kenyans in all the 47 counties countrywide.

The launch comes in the wake of concerted efforts to reduce cash-based transactions, in line with global trends.  The launch comes after a Kenyan investment conglomerate, Foundation Enterprise Programme (FEP) Group acquired a controlling stake in MobiKash late last year.

Speaking during a reception in Nairobi today, MobiKash Afrika Chief Executive Duncan Oduor Otieno, “With Lipa Sasa na Mobikash, merchants across Kenya will instantly gain access to a safe platform, drastically reducing risks of handling fake currency and theft.  The system will also enhance efficiency, by making it easy for merchants to manage their records better. For the first time in World merchants are being acquired free of charge to accept payments through the Lipa Sasa Na MobiKash product”, he said.

MobiKash expects to tap into the expansive customer base, estimated at approximately 25.1 million Kenyans currently subscribed to mobile services. Mobile money services were first introduced in Kenya in 2007 by Safaricom’s M-PESA. Last year, a total of KShs 1.3 trillion was transacted by Kenyans on their mobile phones; on average daily transactions stood at KShs 5.2 billion according to a report by the Central Bank of Kenya.

MobiKash is riding on the government’s recent directive banning all cash payments in the public sector effective July 2014, and the widely anticipated adoption of mandatory electronic payments in all public service vehicles shows the increasing uptake of cashless transactions in Kenya.