Safaricom, a telecommunications provider in Kenya, confirmed that minors will not get access to loan services like M-Shwari and Fuliza.
The Kenyan telco announced on Friday that it is introducing M-PESA Junior Accounts for individuals between the age of 10 and 18 years old. The company said that the minors will have access to the network via SIM cards registered under their guardians or parents.
“We plan to soon launch an M-PESA Junior Product for our children who may have access to mobile phones,” Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said.
According to Techweez, M-Pesa makes the most money for the company, hence it wants to expand the scope of its M-Pesa services. It recorded a 30.3% YoY growth to KES 107.69 billion ($926.2-million).
The total M-PESA transaction value grew 34.0% YoY to KES 29.55 trillion ($254.1-billion) while the volume of transactions grew 34.9% YoY to 15.75 billion ($135.5-million).
A few raised concerns about whether loan and saving services would be available to minors. This is because many Kenyan adults who have access to the services are now drowning in debt. According to Techweez, there are many cases of people who are unable to pay their loans in the country.
Minors will only have the option to send or receive money.
@njoki_thuo : Hello Njoki. The Junior will not be able to
Access loans and savings products. ^TL— Safaricom Care (@Safaricom_Care) May 13, 2022
By Zintle Nkohla
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