Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), has partnered with Safaricom to roll out a cashless payment solution at all its 66 factories across the country.
In a statement, Mr. Lerionka Tiampati, Chief Executive Officer, KTDA said, “The adoption of M-PESA as the sole payment option at our factories lowers the overall inherent cash handling risks and will increase accountability. This move will translate into significant savings and better revenue management, which will in turn lead to increased returns.”
The 66 factories transact approximately Kshs. 1 billion annually through the Factory Door Sales (FDS) having M-PESA reduces security fears associated with handling cash. KTDA will have a till number at each payment point to help save time and money to boost the county and national economies.
Recently, KTDA adopted fibre Internet and Electronic Weighing Solutions to enhance the aency’s performance. The agency has also adopted technology in all departments including procurement and human resources and the attendant efficiency will result in benefits to farmers.
“We believe this initiative will transform the entire payments cycle for farmers and KTDA factories. As we continue deepen M-PESA’s utility beyond person-to-person payments, this partnership demonstrates the ability of the service to provide an efficient payments channel for industries,” said Bob Collymore, Chief Executive Officer Safaricom.
Collymore added the move was very timely, coming just months after it launched a new and more robust M-PESA platform that makes it possible for it to handle more transactions per second. Already, 54 KTDA factories have already started collecting revenues through M-PESA while the remaining 12 factories will go live in the coming months.
KTDA began rolling out this process in July last year.
