Safaricom, Pesapal Roll Out M-PESA Tap-to-Pay in Kenya

Safaricom and Pesapal have partnered to roll out M-PESA Tap-to-Pay and Dynamic Scan-to-Pay on POS terminals, with the Scan-to-Pay initiative targeting 500,000 merchant outlets across Kenya.

This partnership introduces Tap-to-Pay and Dynamic Scan-to-Pay, extending M-PESA’s existing scan services to the physical checkout. Safaricom notes that Scan-to-Pay is already available at more than 60,000 merchant outlets, with a target of reaching 500,000 within the next year.

Also Read: Nigeria Pushes for More Inclusive AI at Global Development Dialogue 

The rollout comes as Safaricom pushes M-PESA beyond the traditional flow of manually entering a merchant number and payment amount. This transition is essential for modernizing retail payments.

Expanding M-PESA Tap-to-Pay Capabilities

With Dynamic Scan-to-Pay, a QR code appears on the Pesapal POS terminal. Customers scan it with their phone, and the merchant details and payment amount are automatically populated before the customer confirms the transaction.

That process removes two common manual steps at checkout. Tap-to-Pay takes the process further by leveraging NFC technology.

Tap-to-Pay allows customers with NFC-enabled smartphones to tap their device on a Pesapal POS terminal, review the merchant details, and authorise the transaction with their M-PESA PIN.

The goal is to reduce errors from manually entering till numbers while making M-PESA available through the same terminals already used for other payment methods.

AI Integration and Scalability

The POS rollout is happening alongside AI Pay, a feature available through Safaricom’s My OneApp. AI Pay allows customers to scan a receipt, and where the information can be identified, it automatically fills in the relevant M-PESA Till or PayBill number.

Safaricom reports that My OneApp has recorded more than 7 million downloads. Meanwhile, the scale of the merchant rollout remains a primary focus of the announcement.

Safaricom aims to increase its scan-enabled merchant locations from 60,000 to 500,000 over the next year. That would expand the QR payment option to more than eight times its current reported footprint.

James Maitai, Group Chief Technology Officer at Safaricom, said the company wants M-PESA to keep pace with changing shopping and payment habits.

“As the way Kenyans shop and transact continues to evolve, we are focused on ensuring that M-PESA evolves with them. This means moving beyond simply enabling payments to reimagining the payment experience itself. Our partnership with Pesapal is an important part of that journey,” said James Maitai.

For Pesapal, the integration adds M-PESA’s newer QR and contactless experiences to its existing POS infrastructure. Agosta Liko, founder of Pesapal, stated the rollout is intended to make transactions faster and reduce friction for businesses.

“Tap-to-Pay and Scan-to-Pay on the Pesapal POS represent the biggest leap in Kenya’s checkout experience in years,” said Agosta Liko.

Why it Matters to African Fintechs

The partnership shows where Kenya’s payments market is heading: away from payment methods that require manual entry toward QR, NFC, and app-assisted checkout.

For fintechs and payment startups, the opportunity lies in making the final step from receiving a bill to completing the transaction faster and less error-prone. The Safaricom and Pesapal rollout puts that shift directly at the physical checkout, scaling the next phase of digital finance.