Mpesa is Safaricom’s most profitable venture. Launched in 2007, the technology has greatly transformed the financial landscape, allowing users to seamlessly send/receive money and pay bills.
Safaricom acquired the innovation from Nyagaka Anyona Ouko, then a college student, who is the inventor of the technology.
In 2020 alone, Safaricom generated a whopping $784.36 billion in revenue from Mpesa-related transactions according to Statista.com. This has since grown with the telco operator revealing it recorded over 2000 MPesa transactions per second in 2023. But Safaricom is also known for its tech-focused approach to business.
On 26th January 2021, the company announced a new development that allows auto-generating of invoices. The development, branded “M-PESA Bill Manager for Businesses,” also supports issuing receipts and sending payment reminders to customers for free on behalf of sellers.
Business Daily Africa, reported Bill Manager is an innovation primarily targeting businesses and institutions with repeat transactions. It allows Lipa Na M-Pesa users to improve how they manage their bill cycle payments.
Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO, said that once the Bill Manager is deployed, M-Pesa users will have a single point for making payments and viewing all transactions.
Most importantly, auto-generated receipts from the new Mpesa Bill Manager will be evidence of all Mpesa payments.
“[Safaricome’s] ambition is to empower both businesses and [their] customers easily manage and keep track of payments.”
Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO
This means M-Pesa users will receive a new SMS reminder informing them when a bill is due or generated.
Additionally, with Safaricom’s M-Pesa Bill Manager, businesses and their customers will automatically receive receipts and invoices relevant to each specific M-Pesa transaction.
Moreover, the new auto-generation system will empower institutions like schools to customize different types of payments, such as transport, lunch, and tuition. For instance, schools will be able to send reminders to parents regarding payments that are due.
This innovation comes at an opportune time for both Safaricom and its clients. On the one hand, millions of mobile users are willing to make payments via M-Pesa to avoid cash transactions as part of safety measures to control the spread of COVID-19.
On the other hand, Safaricom recently disclosed that its Lipa Na M-Pesa service constituted 85.5% of non-cash payments for ordinary goods/services across the country. Last year October, mobile transactions rose to Sh4.08 trillion representing a 13.2% increase.
