Safaricom launches virtual M-Pesa virtual card for international payments

NANYUKI, Kenya June 3- Mpesa, the mobile phone based money transfer service owned by Safaricom has launched a Virtual Mpesa Visa Card that enables their users to make global payments online.  

This launch follows a collaboration between the two companies planner in 2020 that aimed to enable Mpesa users to make payments on e-commerce sites like Amazon, send money internationally, and make cross-border payments. Two years later the product is finally here and accessible to millions of Kenyans.

The card will enable millions of users to make payments that are cashless, seamless, more inclusive and most especially secure.

Customers can activate the card via the M-PESA App by selecting M-PESA GlobalPay, under the “Pay” or “Grow” option.

They can also activate it by dialing *334# then selecting option 6 for “Lipa Na M-PESA” followed by “M-PESA GlobalPay”.

Speaking during an event held at Ole Pejeta Conservancy in Nanyuki, the Visa Vice President and General Manager for East Africa, Corine Mbiaketcha said they are committed to expanding the payment environment in Africa with the partnership with Safaricom being a reality of it.

“Safaricom has changed how money moves in Kenya. We are thrilled to be working together to build new and innovative payments products and services that will help merchants and customers in across Africa overcome barriers in global trade,” said Corine.

Visa, the leader of global payment aims to allow consumers to transact globally remotely.

Najib Balala, Cabinet Secretary for Tourism appreciated the innovation of the virtual card has made establishment in the hospitality, accommodation, food and beverage sector to open up and have more business, especially with Covid 19 which has taught us to use cashless payments 

“Tourism is an important sector it contributes 10 percent of GDP and 9 percent employment and now we want to partner with the private sector to expand and grow and the global payment has made this efficient,” he said.

“M-PESA has over the past fifteen years evolved from a simple money transfer service to become a robust payment platform and driver of financial inclusion for Kenyans. This has paved the way for numerous innovative services and by partnering with Visa to provide the M-PESA GlobalPay Visa virtual card, we are looking to bridge the gap for our customers who would like to use M-PESA anywhere across the world,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom.

The Virtual Visa card only maps your mpesa balance it does not store any money. It also has the same rules or limitations like your M-Pesa account. So, maximum amount per transaction is KES 150,000 and maximum amount per day is KES 300,000.

“Visa is committed to expanding the payments ecosystem across Africa by opening up the global marketplace for every single consumer. This partnership with Safaricom is an important step in helping to achieve this,” said Mbiaketcha.

Other Safaricom global partnerships include with PayPal, AliExpress and Western Union, that enable customers to receive and send money glob