Safaricom has announced plans to launch M-PESA Junior Accounts for young Kenyans between the age of 10 to 18 years. These are individuals who do not have IDs to register a Safaricom line but have access to the network via SIM cards registered under their guardians or parents.
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Speaking during the presentation of Safaricom’s full-year results for the year ended March 2022, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said that the telco is set to launch two new products. By the end of June 2022, Safaricom will launch M-Pesa Junior Accounts, and a virtual debit card for international online payments.
“We plan to soon launch an M-PESA Junior Product for our children who may have access to mobile phones,” said CEO Ndegwa. Safaricom says that the product should go live sometime before June elapses.
Kenya has been tightening its grip on SIM card registration over the last couple of weeks. Customers are being advised to re-confirm details about their SIM cards as regulators and telcos move towards stamping out illegal activities involving fraudulently registered SIM cards.
Children can also have SIM cards too, but they have to be registered using their parents’ or guardians’ identification documents.
Safaricom has not revealed additional details on how the M-PESA Junior accounts will work, but we will update you as soon as we get additional information.
The telco reported a 12.2 percent growth in its 2021 financial year net profit which rose to Sh77.0 billion
Total revenue hit sh281.1bn while M-Pesa transactions over the same period were reported at Sh29.5trillion.
