By Neo Kolane
Mobile communications company Vodacom Lesotho has allowed businesses and organisations to accept M-Pesa payments on-line.
This is made possible by a digital service called PATALA KA M-PESA which was launched Tuesday this week.
The managing director of Vodacom Lesotho financial services, Palesa Mphunyetsane, said M-Pesa merchants may use the one-stop solution to collect payments, process refunds, set up recurring payment plans and reconcile transaction.
Mphunyetsane said this also to promote a shift away from carrying cash while going cashless and digital.
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She said customers can purchase goods or pay for services by requesting services through the business’s website or shopping cart, then selecting M-Pesa as their preferred payment options, inputting their mobile number and receiving a PIN request on their hand sets.
She added that the customer will have to authorize the transaction by providing their 4-digit M-Pesa PIN, and the payment will be executed, debiting the customer’s M-Pesa account and crediting the merchant.
“Customers will have a smoother payment experience while shopping online.
“The platform is secure and runs on existing M-Pesa’s infrastructure, giving customers and businesses the peace of mind that they are transacting with a reputable service provider.
“Through PATALA KA M-PESA, we are looking to build a link between mobile money market, and retail/e-commerce platforms. This new payment service, which is linked to mobile wallet, will allow merchants to reconcile transactions more accurately and reliably by digitizing payments,” Mphunyetsane revealed.
Prior to the integration, Mphunyetsane said interested businesses, both large and small, will need to be existing merchants, or register for an M-Pesa business account. Once completed, the M-Pesa business team will then kick-start the integration.
In addition, the commercial manager of Vodacom Lesotho financial services, Malatola Phothane, said the product uses a centralized Open API platform for merchants to integrate M-Pesa as a payment service on their online store or website.
Phothane said the launch of PATALA KA M-Pesa complements other recent initiatives by Vodacom Lesotho financial services like M-Pesa’s Ntlatse (Overdraft), International Money Transfers (IMT) and the M-Pesa app all aimed at creating cashless society and driving a digital economy.
Phothane said there are a lot of services that can be provided.
He mentioned customer to business, direct debits, business to business, business to customer and transaction status query.
When giving his remarks, the head sponsorships and stakeholder management of Maletsunyane Braai Festival, Mariti Mariti, said they want the event to be cashless completely, from selling of the tickets to attending the event with no cash used.
Mariti said as a festival they tried many ways which became challenging and it was never achieved because technology by then because Vodacom Lesotho financial services was still trying to find means.
“It was this year where we engaged our developers’ Enigma where we connected it with Vodacom Lesotho to make it possible.
“Enigma and Vodacom Lesotho met up and talked technically,” he said.
Mariti gladly said that now customers from the comfort of their homes can purchase Maletsunyane Braai Festival tickets on the website.
