Visa has granted Safaricom a Payment Facilitator Certificate, marking an important milestone in their longstanding partnership that has since rapidly made various options available for enabling Safaricom merchants to accept card payments across multiple networks using the Visa CyberSource payment gateway.

Payment Options Expansion for Safaricom Merchants

The partnership, which began with the launch of the M-PESA GlobalPay Visa Virtual Card in June 2022, now aims to bolster Safaricom's merchant ecosystem. With this agreement, Safaricom merchants will be further empowered to offer a wide array of payment methods through Visa's state-of-the-art advanced payment technology. This enhances efficiency while also providing top-tier security and reliability in payment processing.

One of the critical aspects of the new partnership is the card acceptance capability, extending credit card facilities to MSMEs. Therefore, with Visa’s CyberSource payment gateway, merchants will gain a competitive technological advantage in terms of flexibility, security, and protection against fraud through sophisticated decision management.

Building on Past Success: Visa Virtual Card

These latest developments build on the success of the Visa Virtual Card, introduced in 2022, which allowed M-PESA users to begin transacting online globally. With this certificate, over 600,000 merchants stand to benefit from a more robust digital payment infrastructure.

“We are glad to present the Payment Facilitator Certificate to Safaricom and take this partnership to the next level," said Chad Pollock, general manager and vice president of Visa East Africa. "This partnership underscores our commitment to advancing the most innovative payment solutions that drive growth for the merchant community with efficiency and greater security."

A New Frontier in Payment Solutions

Safaricom's Chief Financial Services Officer, Esther Waititu, said that card payments through Visa’s CyberSource gateway align with the company’s vision to offer diverse and secure payment settlement solutions to merchants.

"At Safaricom, we are constantly developing holistic solutions for our customers, and this milestone will enhance our value proposition for merchants in both online and in-person payments," Waititu added.