Cellphone group Vodacom has confirmed what everyone already knows: it is partnering with Nedbank to bring Vodafone’s cellphone payments system, M-Pesa, to SA.
M-Pesa, which was pioneered with Vodafone in Kenya, is a person-to-person money transfer system using mobile phones. It’s proved popular in a number of African markets, as well as in Afghanistan in the Middle East. M-Pesa allows even unbanked customers to transact electronically.
“As Vodacom’s preferred banking partner in the project, Nedbank has engaged proactively with the banking regulator, ensuring that the initiative will meet all requirements set out by the SA Reserve Bank,” Vodacom and Nedbank said in a statement on Tuesday.
The M-Pesa service was originally created as a pilot funded jointly by Vodafone and the UK Department for International Development’s Financial Deepening Challenge Fund. Today, the service is used by more than 10m people.
Vodafone first announced its intentions to launch M-Pesa in SA at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February. — Staff reporter, TechCentral
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