Safaricom and Pesapal are expanding digital payment options at physical points of sale, introducing Dynamic Scan-to-Pay and Tap-to-Pay through Pesapal’s POS devices as the companies seek to make M-PESA transactions faster and reduce manual payment entry.
The partnership combines Safaricom’s M-PESA payment capabilities with Pesapal’s merchant payment infrastructure, allowing businesses to offer customers additional ways to pay at checkout.
Scan-to-Pay is already available at more than 60,000 merchant outlets, according to Safaricom, which is targeting 500,000 outlets within the next year.
Under the new Dynamic Scan-to-Pay service, customers scan a QR code displayed on a Pesapal POS device. The merchant details and payment amount are automatically populated, allowing customers to verify the information before completing the M-PESA transaction.
Tap-to-Pay enables customers with NFC-enabled smartphones to tap their devices against a Pesapal POS terminal, verify the transaction details and complete payment.
“As the way Kenyans shop and transact continues to evolve, we are focused on ensuring that M-PESA evolves with them,” said James Maitai, Group Chief Technology Officer at Safaricom PLC.
“This means moving beyond simply enabling payments to reimagining the payment experience itself. Our partnership with Pesapal is an important part of that journey, bringing together our respective capabilities to shape the next generation of everyday payments,” he said.
AI Pay adds automated payment entry
Safaricom is also introducing AI Pay through My OneApp, expanding the use of artificial intelligence in the M-PESA payment process.
My OneApp has recorded more than 7 million downloads, according to Safaricom.
AI Pay allows customers to scan a receipt, including a printed or handwritten receipt. Where the relevant information can be identified, the system automatically populates the Till or PayBill details and payment amount.
The feature is designed to reduce manual entry and make it easier for customers to initiate payments from information contained on receipts.
The new payment services add to Safaricom’s existing M-PESA ecosystem, which has 41 million customers using the platform to transact, save or borrow money.
M-PESA generated KES 182.7 billion in revenue in the financial year ended March 2026, according to Safaricom.
Pesapal expands POS payment capabilities
For Pesapal, the partnership extends its POS infrastructure to support additional M-PESA payment experiences at physical merchant locations.
“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. Today, we activate the future of payments,” he said.
Pesapal provides payment and business management services to merchants in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia.
The company says its platform supports businesses ranging from small merchants to larger enterprises, providing payment acceptance, access to financing and business tools.
Safaricom’s payments business
The rollout comes as M-PESA continues to represent a significant part of Safaricom’s business.
Safaricom reported annual revenue of KES 400 billion for the year ended March 2026 and says it serves more than 71.6 million customers across Kenya and Ethiopia.
In Kenya, M-PESA has 41 million customers, while the service has helped drive financial inclusion to 84.8% of the adult population in 2024, up from 26.7% in 2006, according to Safaricom.
The company says its network covers more than 99% of Kenya’s population, providing connectivity across 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks.
The planned expansion of Scan-to-Pay to 500,000 outlets would significantly increase the number of physical locations where customers can use QR-based M-PESA payments.
Combined with the growing footprint of Pesapal POS devices, the rollout gives Safaricom another channel through which to expand digital payments beyond traditional mobile-phone initiated transactions.
The companies are positioning Scan-to-Pay, Tap-to-Pay and AI Pay as part of a broader shift toward faster and more automated payment experiences at the point of sale.
For merchants, the technologies are intended to simplify payment collection, while customers gain more options to complete M-PESA transactions with fewer manual steps.
