A group of Kenyan innovators are planning to launch a Near Field Communications (NFC) enabled pre-paid card in the Kenyan market in the next few days. Coming hot on the heels of the Google Beba card, the NFC pre-paid card would be used to collect redeem change from supermarket tills and pay for transit fares to selected bus companies without the need to have cash.
The pre-paid card will also be used to redeem change in selected supermarkets solving the problem of unavailability of coins at the tills in most of the supermarkets. The change which would have otherwise been given in coins or sweets will be loaded to the card and the same used to pay transit fare in the PSVs.
Megarrider Limited has already partnered with Tuskys Supermarkets, Double M, 105 Shuttles, Star Bus and MOA Compliant public service vehicles (PSV) in this initiative. The company look to partner with other supermarkets.
The innovators are looking at solving the problem of the unavailability of coins at most of the supermarkets’ tellers by letting buyers get their change in the form of virtual money loaded onto their NFC enabled cards. The same can then be used on the above mentioned buses to pay for fare.
The same card can be re-charged through mobile money services like M-Pesa, Airtel Money, Orange Money and yuCash.
I think that this service is related to the advert I saw and tweeted about here.
Someone is looking for NFC enabled smartphones for leasing. I suspect this to be Google twitter.com/RobertAlai/sta…
— Robert Alai (@RobertAlai) June 15, 2012
The service is expected to be launched sometime next week.
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