In case you are a daily consumer of M-Pesa, the cell cash service from Safaricom, which, should you’re Kenyan, you in all probability are, you might need heard that it’s planning to introduce standing orders as a brand new characteristic. However what are standing orders and why are they vital?
Standing orders are a means of establishing recurring funds or transfers out of your account, which on this case can be your cell cash account, to a different individual, enterprise, or service. For instance, you should use a standing order to pay your lease, utility payments, insurance coverage premiums, or subscriptions each month with out having to recollect or do it manually.
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You can too use a standing order to save lots of or make investments a sure amount of cash each week or month into one other M-Pesa account or product.
Standing orders are widespread in banking companies, however they’re very uncommon in cell cash platforms. In actual fact, M-Pesa would be the first cell cash platform on this planet to supply this characteristic, based on George Njuguna, the Director of Info Expertise (CIO) at Safaricom .
This can be a massive deal as a result of it’ll make M-Pesa extra handy, dependable, and safe for its customers. It should additionally open up new potentialities and alternatives for monetary inclusion, entry, and empowerment.
What are some potential use case eventualities?
One of many areas the place standing orders can have a optimistic affect is well being. Based on Njuguna, M-Pesa will use this characteristic to allow automated deductions for medical insurance coverage merchandise corresponding to Linda Jamii and M-TIBA. This can make it simpler for individuals to afford and entry high quality healthcare companies with out worrying about paying upfront or working out of funds.
One other space the place standing orders could be helpful is housing. Many individuals in Kenya battle to pay their lease on time or face eviction on account of late funds. With standing orders, tenants can arrange a daily cost to their landlords from their M-Pesa accounts and keep away from these issues. Landlords may profit from having a gradual and predictable earnings stream from their tenants.
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Standing orders may assist individuals obtain their monetary targets and aspirations. Whether or not it’s saving for schooling, beginning a enterprise, or shopping for an asset, standing orders might help individuals plan and decide to their future.
For instance, M-Pesa customers can arrange a standing order to switch cash into their financial savings or funding merchandise corresponding to M-Shwari, KCB M-Pesa, Mali, and so forth. This fashion, they will construct their wealth and monetary safety over time.
That is nonetheless not a factor
M-Pesa has not but introduced when standing orders might be out there to its customers or how they are going to be applied. Nonetheless, it’s clear that this characteristic might be a game-changer for the cell cash platform and its prospects.
It should improve the comfort, reliability, and safety of M-Pesa transactions and allow new potentialities and alternatives for monetary inclusion, entry, and empowerment.
