Safaricom launched the M-PESA Junior Account last week in an event attended by leaders from Safaricom including the Safaricom Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Ndegwa and the Cabinet Secretary for ICT and Innovation Eliud Owalo.
MPESA Junior Account will be available for young people who are under the age of 18 years but must be above 10 years of age. The product will be accessed through M-PESA-Go.
M-PESA Go is a version of the M-PESA app but has been adapted to suit minors with toned-downed features that are appropriate for their age.
As revealed by Boniface Mungania, the Tribe Lead M-PESA Payments, the product is an ongoing program that is meant to ensure financial inclusion of children under the age of 18 years.
“M-PESA Go aims to improve digital money management and financial literacy among young Kenyans,” said Safaricom.
Forty percent of Kenyans are below the age of 18 and the product is digital naïve making sense why Safaricom is investing in the demographic.
M-PESA Go has been running a pilot product for some time before it was launched. Safaricom had been working together with students from Alliance High School who were used as thee feedback sample and information when they were developing it.
Junior are now able to use M-PESA Go to send and receive money, Buy data and airtime, Use Lipa na M-PESA services and even access a customized version of the M-PESA app.
However, M-PESA Go users will not be able to withdraw cash, access loans such as Fuliza, M-Shwari and KCB M-PESA or accessing beting or Forex payments.
The three functions are understandable because a National Identification Card is required when withdrawing money and those under the age of 18 do not have this. They are also not allowed to access loans because they are not employed and making payments for betting has also been blocked because betting is for adults.
How to Sign Up For M-PESA Go
This is how you can sign up for M-PESA Go:
- A parent/guardian can use an already registered SIM Card using the link: https://safaricom.com/mpesa-go/onboarding. A SIM Card that has already been registered that can be used for M-PESA Go is one that belongs to a child but has been registered under his/her parent/guardian’s ID Card.
- A parent can also visit a Safaricom Shop outlet for the same exercise. At the Safaricom Shop, a parent will be required to have an active SIM Card registered on M-PESA, a valid ID/Passport/military ID and the child’s birth certificate.
- After registering, the juniors can download and use M-PESA Go’s services.
Parents will be able to use the M-PESA Super App to monitor what their children are doing in their Junior Accounts. They can also monitor and track usage andexecute parental controls such as setting transaction limits.
The M-PESA Super App also has Mini-Apps such as Kodris Africa. The app is the first-ever government-approved program for teaching codcing. For 60 days between the 26th of November 2022, parents lokking to have their children started with coding, can purchase the annual Kodirs Africa subscription through the M-PESA app and get it at 50% off.
“As M-PESA we are committed to empowering and transforming the lives of everbody, and in M-PESA Go, we are providing a revolutionary product designed fr youngsters, but with oversight by parents or guardians. Leveraging the M-PESA Super App, we plan to introduce a financial literacy platform that will equip children with tools for managing money,” said Safaricom PLC’s CEO Peter Ndegws.