M-pesa has been in existence since the year 2007. In the 8 years that it has been in existence, a lot of additions have been incorporated into it. Lipa na M-pesa that is mostly used by businesses was launched in 2013. This had been the Hail Mary that businesses were waiting for and it was embraced with enough enthusiasm. Most businesses now use the platform be it shops, chain supermarkets, schools, hostels, hotels, petrol stations, you name it, use the platform. This is how this transformed the business landscape in Kenya.
1. Better sale records
Businesses can easily see who paid money to their account and when they did it. This also gives them an easier time to account for the daily and monthly transaction and is also very useful when it comes to boo keeping. This encourages most businesses to embrace Lipa na M-pesa for the services they render and goods they sell.
2. More sales
When you get in the supermarket with ksh1000 in your pocket you want to do shopping that will cost less than that. The use of Lipa na M-pesa on counters enables customer go ahead and take everything they need and get to the counter and pay via M-pesa depending on how much they have in their accounts. Some banks have also integrated their platform with M-pesa and you can retrieve money from your bank into your M-pesa account and pay for the goods. This results in more sales for the business and more satisfaction to the customer.
3. No hard cash needed
Cash is a very sensitive thing to carry around. It can be stolen, you can lose it, and it might be fake money and so forth. Some of the items or services that are provided to us use a lot of money and carrying that much cash in hand is not very secure. Having the money in your M-PESA account makes it easy for you to pay and gives you ease of mind. In order for someone to steal money from your M-pesa they need to have a lot of details and it is a lot more cumbersome that stealing hard cash.
4. Convenience to users
There are a lot of things that you can pay for via M-pesa. You can send your relatives at home money from the comfort of your seat. You can pay your rent to the landlord, you can pay for goods and concert tickets without moving. It is also convenient when it comes to paying your monthly contributions to NHIF and NSSF without the hassle that come with it. This makes it easier for a customer to multitask while conducting business. A few years ago in order to have something delivered where money was needed upfront, you would need to go to the person with the goods and pay him the money. Nowadays you can pay the money and he will send over the goods.
5. Business efficiency
Don’t you hate it when you go to a shop and the shopkeeper is a little too slow when counting the cash or gives you wrong change or worse of all sweets instead of money? Lipa na M-pesa ensures that this does not happen. If a good is Ksh 346 you only have to send that and all this waiting as she goes looking for change or giving you sweets remains a thing of the past. This ensures that businesses are able to serve more customers and very promptly which keeps them coming back.
6. You can now access some government services online using Mpesa on the eCitizen Platform. Mpesa is one of the payment options on the ecitizen platform and it is now easy to get your driving license, pay for your passport, and access other government services easily. Find out more in this post You can now access Government services online using #eCitizen.
