Google Enables M-Pesa Payments on its App Store

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Google has integrated M-Pesa as a form of payment into its app store making it easier for Kenyans to make purchases&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The payment option has been available to users since Monday and it makes Google Play one of the first among global e-commerce sites to adapt to mobile money&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Previously&comma; customers could only pay using credit cards&comma; which are inaccessible to most Kenyans&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Carrier billing is very important to the developer ecosystem in markets where credit card is very low&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">With this partnership&comma; M-Pesa will play a critical role in the app ecosystem&comma;” said Mahir Sahin&comma; head of Android partnerships in Africa for Google&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Normal M-Pesa PayBill transaction fees will apply on the payment option that was integrated into Google Play by DOCOMO Digital&comma; a firm that is owned by Japan’s largest mobile operator&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Lack of payment options has remained one of the barrier for Kenyans looking to buy goods and services from international e-commerce firms that only accept card payments&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">While only about six per cent of applications on the Google Play store are paid apps&comma; the integration of M-Pesa is a key milestone&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">However&comma; while Kenyans are now able to make purchases through M-Pesa&comma; there remains a gap for locals that want to sell their applications on the platform&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Google does not allow for registration of merchant accounts from Kenya&comma; which necessary if you want to sell on its platform&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Safaricom &lpar;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;african-markets&period;com&sol;en&sol;stock-markets&sol;nse&sol;listed-companies&sol;company&quest;code&equals;SCOM" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">NSE&colon;SCOM<&sol;a>&rpar; says that integrating M-Pesa into Google Play is part of its larger objectives to evolve the service well-beyond the foundational money transfer offering&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Over the last few years&comma; Safaricom has tried to make it easier for Kenyans to use M-Pesa for payments in the physical and virtual world&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In the latest such move&comma; the company launched the M-Pesa 1Tap service which uses Near-Field-Communication &lpar;NFC&rpar; technology to make it easier and faster to complete payments&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Source&colon; www&period;african-markets&period;com<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;