VODACOM TANZANIA LAUNCHES A NEW M-PESA SERVICE

VODACOM Tanzania's Head of Marketing and Communications Department, Kelvin Twissa (centre), addresses a press conference at the launch of a new M-Pesa service for Chai Bora and Serengeti Breweries through its distributors, Mahawi Enterprises. They will be amongst the first clients to use the service. Looking on are the representatives of Mahawi Enterprises, Joseph Mahawi and the Business Development Manager of Chai Bora, Martin Ng'ethe.

VODACOM has launched a new integrated payment system for the business community that allows merchants, retailers and distributors to settle payments by using M-Pesa in a more secure way.

The new service will improve business and customer convenience by expanding the payment ecosystem from customers paying their retailers, to retailers paying distributors as well as distributors paying wholesellers cashless through M-Pesa, a quicker and safer mode of payment totally redefining the way businesses handle payments.

"Vodacom has been adding value to help streamline and improve the operations of the business community in Tanzania by introducing new products and services that will revolutionize the business community, and moving away from the old traditions of doing business," Vodacom Tanzania Head of Marketing and Communication, Mr Kelvin Twissa said.

"The new LIPA KWA M-PESA service is quick, secured, integrated, convenient and cashless." According to Mr Twissa, the new system is integrated to M-Pesa and bank account to enable merchants and retailers to transact money instantly, he said.

With the new system, signed up merchants have an enhanced limit of up to 50m/- in M-Pesa unlike the standard M-Pesa account which has a limit of 5m/-, he said. "Distributors can hold up to 2bn/- on their M-Pesa accounts.

This is a great opportunity for the business community in Tanzania to embark into the cashless space," he said. "The new service is convenient, secure, reliable and cost effective. One does not need to travel or incur other expenses in doing business transactions.