How M-Pesa engages its customers for better services

Kenya's biggest service provider Safaricom's M-Pesa engages their customers in various ways.

By using M-Pesa, customers have been able to do transactions of over 4,000 per second.

Safaricom’s Chief Financial Services Officer Esther Waititu said they interact with customers through the Safaricom Application and M-Pesa Super App.

She, however, said that in future Safaricom will explore merging the two applications for customers to enjoy the services and experience under one application.

"We call on strategic partnerships to come work with us. Let's help businesses showcase their work, let's help consumers consume our products simply and effectively," she said.

Waititu added that by developing mini-applications, customers can experience better services.

She said through the mini-applications, the firm has collaborated with over 100,000 developers. 

This, she said, has been achieved through the leveraging of technology.

"We are working with developers and our customers to try and build a lot of these solutions," she said.

"Today, we only have insurance medication of negative three per cent in this country, out of the 55 million people we have in Kenya, only less than three per cent of them have access to insurance, that insurance, is largely for vehicles. Because today, you can't operate a car on our roads if you don't have insurance."

According to her, Artificial Intelligence has been part of their strategy for enhancing services to customers.

"The power of AI allows us to personalise the experience. Generative artificial intelligence will help us to make sure we're giving you the right level of experience on our super apps, so that's what we aim to do, if we do this, we're able to make sure you have access to all your financial solutions," she said.

"Our M-Pesa is built on your shoulders and it's through our collaboration, the use of technology, continuous engagement and exploring areas that are giving us a tough time."

She called on Kenyans to share feedback that will help in building the firm and reach many users.

"We are open to hearing areas where we believe we can make a change. We want to grow together. We want to be the air that fuels the financial services ecosystem."

On Wednesday, Safaricom held the second day of the Decode Expo.

The Decode Expo serves as a platform to showcase engineering excellence, cutting-edge technology advancements, and thought leadership.

The expo emphasised the alignment with national strategies, the promotion of financial inclusion, and the responsible use of technology, all in pursuit of shaping Kenya's digital future.

The participants were treated to a showcase of the country’s and Safaricom’s engineering practices and products in fintech, such as the Virtual Reality experiences and games, and other innovations from partners and sponsors.