Diamond Trust Bank Kenya (DTB) and Mastercard have announced their partnership to roll-out the DTB Masterpass QR app in Kenya, a mobile payment solution that will enable millions of businesses to accept fast and secure digital payments from consumers.
This comes after merchant service provider, Kopo Kopo, announced their partnership with Mastercard in March 2017, to roll out Masterpass QR across eleven markets in sub-Saharan Africa, impacting over 250,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) over the next five years. Kopo Kopo will be working with DTB to ensure the solution reaches their full network, meeting the needs of merchants working across various sectors in the country.
Masterpass QR is a mobile solution that provides a fast, convenient and secure payment solution for consumers and a reliable and instant acceptance tool for merchants. Cash is no longer the only form of payment small and micro merchants need to accept from their customers, Masterpass QR enables them to accept digital payments anywhere, anytime.
Users of the DTB mobile banking platform will be able to safely pay for in-store purchases by scanning a quick response (QR) code displayed at checkout on their smartphones, or by entering a merchant identifier into their feature phones. Consumers don’t need to carry cash or their physical bank cards – rather they can pay immediately using the DTB Masterpass QR app on their mobile device anywhere that Masterpass QR is accepted.
Chris Bwakira, Vice President and Area Business Head, East Africa at Mastercard said, “Delivering efficient, secure and cost effective acceptance solutions to Kenyan merchants is an essential step to providing the level of support required to grow and develop businesses. According to Kenya’s Micro and Small Enterprises Authority, almost 80% of the country’s critical jobs are created by these small enterprises, therefore it is critical that we introduce relevant solutions that addresses specific challenges.”
Currently Masterpass QR is being introduced at key Kopo Kopo merchants in Nairobi, but there are plans to ensure the solution is accessible across the country. Additionally, the interoperable solution can be used in markets outside of Kenya, and Mastercard has started to introduce the solution in multiple markets across the continent.
“The mobile solution will not only eliminate the merchants’ reliance on costly point of sale devices, it will also remove the dangers and logistical issues of handling cash on daily sales. Kenyan merchants who previously didn’t have access to electronic payment tools can now be financially included ensuring they are able to track and monitor the businesses cash flow immediately,” says Nasim Devji, Group CEO and Managing Director at DTB.
Devji adds that DTB customers will be able to use their mobile banking app to access Masterpass QR, and conduct their day-to-day banking needs directly on their device.
The roll-out of the solution forms an important part of the Mastercard commitment to impact over 150,000 MSMEs in Kenya this year and additionally supports the company’s global goal of connecting 40 million micro and small merchants to the formal financial economy, helping them to move beyond cash by the end of 2020.
“We’re passionate about giving small businesses the tools they need to grow and prosper, and we see the mobile device as a way to financially enable millions of merchants in Africa. The use of mobile solutions is not expected to decline in sub-Saharan Africa, especially if you consider that by 2022 there will be over 1 billion mobile subscribers in the region according to recent research,” said Ken Kinyua, CEO of Kopo Kopo.
Kenyans are entrepreneurial by nature and there are exciting business ideas and innovations coming from the region. The partnership between Mastercard, DTB and Kopo Kopo will make a lasting impact in Kenya and inspire similar initiatives in other parts of Africa.
