Kenya's Leading Telecommunication service provider Safaricom has enhanced its mobile money platform (M-Pesa) by introducing a new feature that caters for visually impaired customers.
The new service will enable customers to access mobile money services by dialing 234, then selecting the “M-Pesa Services” option, followed by the “M-Pesa Balance” option.
This will then allow customers to enter their PIN and have their balances read out to them.
“Tremendous gains lie in being able to enhance the ability to integrate persons with disabilities into every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life. Our vision at Safaricom is to Transform Lives, and we hope that this latest innovation will enable more visually impaired customers on our network to have control over their M-PESA accounts,” Joseph Ogutu, Director – Strategy, Safaricom stated.
[caption caption="File image of Safaricom's Director of Strategy John OgutuJoseph Ogutu"]
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The platform will initially allow customers to query their M-Pesa balances, with additional services expected to be introduced in coming months.
Previously, visually impaired customers transacting on the service had to depend on the assistance of other persons to make transactions. This exposed them to the risk of being defrauded in the process, and also meant that they sometimes to had to reveal their M-Pesa pins.
By accessing M-Pesa through an Interactive Voice Response platform, customers can now ascertain their balances before and after making transactions.
Safaricom involved a focus group consisting of visually impaired customers in development and review of the service.
“When I have a basic feature phone, withdrawing or sending money has been quite an issue. I try to work with trust. We are excited by this innovation, which has been long overdue. It gives us independence and now we go ahead and transact without revealing our PIN,” Jonah Simba, an IT Program Officer at the Kenya Union of the Blind stated.
[caption caption="A customer at an M-PESA shop"]
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The feature has been made possible through a voice biometric platform that allows users to interact with various services.
The company is reportedly working on another project that will allow visually impaired customers to access smartphones at more affordable price points.
