Google starts taking payments for apps via M-Pesa

Google Play apps and games store has started accepting payments in Kenya through Safaricom’s mobile phone M-Pesa service to boost downloads.

M-Pesa, which enables customers to transfer money and pay bills via mobile phone, has 27.8 million users in Kenya.

M-Pesa has been mimicked across Africa and in other markets.

“This is very important to the developer ecosystem in markets where credit card penetration is low,” said Mahir Sain, head of Africa Android partnerships at Google. 

Safaricom has 13 million smart phones on its network, most of them using the Android platform.

It partnered with London-based global payments platform provider, DOCOMO Digital, to enable users pay through M-Pesa, both firms said on Thursday.