The M-PESA Go has finally come with a new financial product for kids aged 10 to 17 years.
The product was launched on 26th November in Nairobi at a launch ceremony attended by top executives from Safaricom. This includes its CEO Peter Ndegwa and the CS for ICT and Innovation Eliud Owalo.
M-PESA Go is a version of the M-PESA App that, as you might expect. It’s meant for kids and has features for them.
There is, however, one report from the event that needs to be made. Offering M-PESA services to kids is just one aspect of M-PESA Go. Rather, it is an ongoing campaign for young people’s financial inclusion, according to Boniface Mungania, the Tribe Lead for M-PESA Payments
While keeping in mind that 40% of Africans are under the age of 18, Safaricom’s investment in this group makes sense given that this group is a digital culture.
Also, M-PESA Go has been operating a pilot for a while. Students from Alliance High School provided suggestions and information to Safaricom as it was being built.
Now that’s over with, kids can use M-PESA Go to perform the following tasks:
Send and receive money
- Buy data and airtime
- Use Lipa na M-PESA services
- Access a customized version of the M-PESA App
But kids won’t be able to do the following things:
- Withdrawing cash
- Access to loans such as Fuliza, M-Shwari, and KCB M-PESA
- No access to betting or forex payments
The three arguments make sense because these children lack IDs, which are required to withdraw money. At the same time, they can not access loans for obvious reasons. Also, payments for gambling because these services are only available to adults.
Signing up for M-Pesa Go
It’s simple to register with M-PESA Go.
By clicking this link and filling out the necessary fields, a parent or guardian can activate a SIM card that has already been registered. A SIM card that has previously been registered is one that belonged to a child but was activated using his or her parent’s or guardian’s ID.
If that is too hard, a parent can also perform the same exercise at a Safaricom Shop location.
In this case, the parent will need to have a working SIM card that is registered with M-PESA, as well as a child’s birth certificate and a valid ID or passport.
Once they have registered, kids can download the M-PESA Go App, a modified version of the M-PESA Super App, and use it for additional functions.
The M-PESA Super App will allow parents to keep an eye on what their children are doing with their Mpesa Go. They can keep an eye on and track their usage as well as implement parental controls like transaction cap settings.
Kodris Africa, the developer of the first government-approved coding education program in Kenya, is one of the Mini-Apps accessible on the M-PESA Super App. From November 26th, 2022, parents wishing to get their kids started in coding can get a 50% discount on an annual Kodris Africa subscription by using the M-PESA app.
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