Carrefour, the world’s second largest hypermarket chain, is the first retailer in Kenya to integrate Safaricom’s payments service, Lipa Na M-Pesa, as a payment channel in Kenya. With this development, customers shopping at Carrefour will be able to complete payments without having to show evidence of an M-Pesa message to retail staff, resulting in a faster and more efficient cashless transaction at the till. Currently more than 44,000 merchants are actively using Lipa Na M-Pesa in the country.
“As we continue to progress our strategy to position Lipa Na M-Pesa as a payment channel, Carrefour seamless integration will result in heightened convenience and ease of shopping for M-Pesa users. The digitisation of payments at the till will remove the need for manual verification, fast-tracking payment time and enhancing convenience,” said Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom.
To pay, customers will go to their Lipa Na M-Pesa menu, select Buy Goods and services, then enter the till number and amount. After verifying the payment with their M-Pesa PIN, customers will then immediately receive a receipt.
Carrefour currently occupies 5,000 square metres at The Hub in Karen, with plans to open a second outlet at the Two Rivers Mall. Lipa Na M-Pesa continues to drive ease of payments at a growing footprint of outlets across the country. Over Kenya Shillings 20 billion in payments was made in March 2016 at more than 44,000 M-Pesa merchants, an increase of 74% in the same period.
