Leading telecommunication firms are set to launch mobile money interoperability which will have money transfers through phone accessed by all Kenyans from across all networks in real time.
Mobile money transfer, previously a preserve for Safaricom’s M-Pesa will now cut across all networks-one can send and receive money from any network he/she is on.
Players in the communication and banking sector are today expected to announce the start of the pilot phase of the new cross-network plan slated to begin from Monday next week.
In the pilot phase, only employees of Airtel and Safaricom will be allowed to send and receive money.
ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru said if the pilot is successful, this will be a major milestone for the mobile money transfer sector.
“One of the key reasons we need interoperability is to make sure that people are not limited by a closed network, you should be able to send money to anyone on any network and receive money from anyone,” Mucheru told Business Daily in an interview on Thursday.
Cross-network transfers will encourage customers to register on smaller operators as currently; Safaricom enjoys having the bulk of M-Pesa customers.
In the new plan, if one receives money from a different operator, it will reflect in real time unlike in the current system where only a text message reflects with no real time status of the credit in case of a cross-network transfer.
Telkom Kenya is expected to join the scheme once it re-launches its mobile money platform.
Airtel and Safaricom have signed interoperability contracts agreeing to integrate their networks in push for success of the cross-network money transfer.
The pilot phase will give the two telcos a chance to address the shortcomings of the cross-network transfer before they are scaled to the national level.
“Because this is a money product we have to take exceptional care,” said Safaricom corporate affairs director Steve Chege.
The pilot phase will take one month. Then, the two telecommunication firms will wait for approval by Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), before bringing the product to market.