Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecom operator, has announced a new service that will allow customers to pay for goods and services using internet data credits.
This is another push to expand our customer base in the East African country
This feature applies to both postpaid and prepaid customers whose data volume is more than her 5 GB.
For prepaid subscribers, this applies to his packages of data that do not expire.
Subscribers can use the “Ripana Data” service to pay for merchandise at stores using their invoice number or cash register number.
It’s accessed by dialing the shortcode *544*34#.
When dialing the Lipa na Data shortcode, unauthorized users will see an error her message on their device screen.
A four menu options will appear for those who qualifies:
Buy products, pay bills, view bundle calculator and bundle balance.
The Bundle Calculator displays data bundles equivalent to Kenyan Shilling banknotes.
For comparison, a Sh500 bill would cost the user about 7.7 GB, while a Sh2,000 bill would cost 30 GB. At this point, the user can accept or decline the payment request.
The View Bundle Balance option allows users to determine if they have sufficient funds for trading.
As previously mentioned, Lipa na Data will participate in several marketing strategies aimed at maintaining the dominance of Safaricom and its mobile money service M-Pesa.
Another innovative payment method from this carrier is the Fuliza service.
This allows eligible users who do not have sufficient funds to pay for goods and services through the overdraft facility.
Similarly, Lipa na Bonga’s service allows consumers to offset cash claims with loyalty points.
