Local businesses and public transportation stations will accept smartcards in Kenya soon
Kenya residents will soon receive smartcards to use at local businesses as part of an effort to facilitate the payment processes in the country’s generally cash-based economy, according to Business Daily Africa.
The plastic cards will be encrypted with a smart chip that stores user and up-to-the-minute account information. Residents will use the card to pay for public transportation, parking fees, local shopping, utilities and renting DVDs. The smartcards are the most recent solution proposed to replace the inconvenient cash-only payments at most Kenyan businesses and public transportation stations.
"You will find that even where consumers have debit or credit cards, they still need cash to make every day purchases like milk and bread at the kiosk and pay for parking or bus fare," said Samuel Kahiga, director of the company that proposed smartcards in the area, Business Daily Africa relays. "Consumers get inconvenienced when the parking attendant or bus conductor does not have change for a large note."
The program will start in centralized urban areas, but Kahiga added the company’s objective "is to make the smart card useable even in the smallest kiosk."
A smartcard payment program was also recently implemented in Warsaw, Poland to provide convenience for accessing prepaid cell phone accounts in the area.
Related ID News:
