Safaricom launches Pata More campaign to ease burden for traders

Audio By Vocalize

 Jenny Wangare, a fruit and soft drink vendor could not receive payments of over Sh200 through her Pochi la Biashara account because her customers were being charged transaction fees.

She was forced to receive cash or incur costs, especially when customers sent her money without considering transaction fees.

Johnson Njaramba, a bodaboda operator, was a worried man as he had to ride his motorcycle at night with cash in his pocket as he headed home.

Njaramba said that his customers only paid Sh100 through Pochi but refused to pay more because they would incur costs.

“Whenever I am heading home, I feel uneasy because if I get hijacked, all my cash would be stolen. Sometimes I was forced to deposit the money before leaving town,” he said.

However, Safaricom Telecommunication has come to their aid by launching ‘Pata More’ in Rift Valley region to give its customers, especially small-scale traders, value for money across its products and services.

The initiative enhances connectivity, digital services and M-Pesa solutions for traders, including bodabodas, market vendors, matatus, among others.

Speaking during the launch in Nakuru, Fawzia Ali, the Safaricom Chief Consumer Business Officer said that the initiative will target all Safaricom customers in the Rift Valley.

“The economy is harsh following the fuel price rise and we decided to step in and reduce the burdens of Kenyans through the Pata More popote ulipo with Safaricom,” she said.

 One of the values offered is the revamp on mobile data bundles to over 30 million customers in Kenya.

Fawzia said that Safaricom had doubled the data for customers, without tampering with the price or validity period.

“Customers will now get 250mbs daily data for Sh20, increased from 100mbs. They will also get 1.5gbs daily data bundles at Sh99, increased from 1gb,” she said.

Sh1000 used to give customers 10gbs but Safaricom has enhanced it to 21gbs.

The second value is in Pochi la Biashara, popularly used by bodabodas, Matatus, market traders and small businesses.

Safaricom is providing transfer free transaction costs for up to Sh200 paid through pochi, from Sh100. Customers paying more than Sh200 would only incur a maximum of Sh50 transaction costs.

“We believe that the free transactions will be of value to customers who pay anything below Sh200,” she said.

Lipa na M-Pesa transaction costs will also be free up to Sh500 for both customers and businesses.

The company is also fixing internet protection for traders to control viruses by offering cyber security to secure its network.

“We have also increased the number of customer case shops to about 1,300 in Nakuru to ensure customers get instant and efficient services,” she said.

Kirubi Thairu, the Safaricom General Manager, Rift Region said the campaign was timely especially for farmers and traders who had no money because they had invested in farm inputs and stocks.

He said that reducing costs would improve Kenyan lives, stressing that doubling the data would be very significant to the youths who depend on the internet for content creation, browsing and business transactions.

“It is a tough patch of the year and we want to ensure the most affected people see value in our product,” he said.