Safaricom Expands M-PESA Payment Options

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Safaricom is expanding its M-PESA payment options to include QR-code payments, contactless smartphone transactions, and an artificial intelligence-powered feature. The new features, developed in partnership with Pesapal, aim to simplify the payment process by reducing the need for manual entry of payment details.

New Payment Options

The collaboration enables Dynamic Scan-to-Pay and Tap-to-Pay through Pesapal point-of-sale (POS) devices, bringing these payment options to physical merchant locations. The changes address a practical challenge in digital payments, where manually entering payment information can add steps to a transaction.

How the New Features Work

Scan-to-Pay allows customers to scan a QR code linked directly to a merchant’s M-PESA Till Number, eliminating the need to manually enter the merchant’s payment details. Dynamic Scan-to-Pay, on the other hand, uses QR codes displayed on Pesapal POS devices to automatically populate the merchant details and payment amount.

Tap-to-Pay enables customers with NFC-enabled smartphones to tap their devices on a Pesapal POS terminal, verify the transaction details, and complete the payment. AI Pay, meanwhile, uses receipt scanning to identify and populate Till or PayBill details and payment amounts where available.

The three features address different payment situations, with Scan-to-Pay and Dynamic Scan-to-Pay focusing on QR-code payments, Tap-to-Pay providing a contactless option, and AI Pay using receipt scanning to simplify the payment process.

Expansion Plans

Safaricom targets 500,000 Scan-to-Pay outlets, with the feature already available at more than 60,000 merchant outlets. The rollout will take place alongside the expanding footprint of Pesapal POS devices, according to Safaricom.

Partnership Expands Reach

The partnership between Safaricom and Pesapal combines the former’s M-PESA payment ecosystem with the latter’s merchant payment infrastructure, serving businesses across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Zambia. The integration is intended to deliver faster transactions at checkout, with Pesapal founder Agosta Liko noting the importance of reimagining the payment experience.

Safaricom Group Chief Technology Officer James Maitai said the partnership is part of the company’s effort to move beyond enabling payments towards reimagining the payment experience. The new features are expected to expand the ways customers can make payments, giving Safaricom additional ways to develop the M-PESA experience at physical points of sale.

M-PESA generated more than KES182.7 billion in revenue in the financial year ended March 2026, which shows the service’s importance to the telecommunications group’s business. The commercial impact of the new features will depend on merchant adoption, customer usage, and how effectively the options work across supported environments.

The rollout of the new features is expected to take place over the next year, with Safaricom focusing on expanding the network of merchant outlets that support Scan-to-Pay.

Rollout Challenges Ahead

As the rollout progresses, Safaricom will likely face challenges in increasing merchant adoption and customer usage of the new features. They will need to ensure that the payment options are widely available and easily accessible to customers, and that merchants are able to effectively use the supported payment options. The success of the new features will depend on the ability of Safaricom and Pesapal to work together to deliver a seamless payment experience for customers.

Safaricom’s target of 500,000 Scan-to-Pay outlets within the next year is ambitious, and they will need to work closely with merchants and Pesapal to achieve this goal. The expansion of Scan-to-Pay will depend on the availability of supported payment options and the ability of customers and merchants to use them in everyday transactions.

The partnership between Safaricom and Pesapal is expected to play a key role in the rollout of the new features, with Pesapal’s merchant payment infrastructure and point-of-sale devices enabling Dynamic Scan-to-Pay and Tap-to-Pay.

The implementation of the new features will require significant investment in marketing and education to raise awareness among merchants and customers.