M-PESA is big in Kenya. It has made its way into virtually every aspect of our lives and today, we get a whole new convenience. Thanks to a new integration powered DOCOMO Digital, ‘the most innovative alternative payment methods enabler’, the more than 27 Million M-PESA users in Kenya with Android phones and tablets can now use the mobile banking platform to purchase apps and make payments on the Google Play Store.
Speaking to press during the launch of this service, Director of Strategy for safaricom, Joseph Ogutu said, “Partnerships have been instrumental in deepening the convenience and value of M-PESA to our customers. Today’s partnership will empower our customers to access Google Play content and further underlines our commitment to providing more choice and convenience to them.”
This is no doubt a sigh of relief to users in this side of the planet. Until now, the only other way to make payments to the Play Sture was using credit cards. This didn’t work for everyone as most banks block online services on their Visa and MasterCards by default. The exchange rates to USD and the hidden charges were also a hindrance.
How to make Payments to the Play Store using M-PESA
It goes without say that you must meet the basic criteia to be able to do this;
- You must have an Android device with the latest version of Play Store.
- You must be a Safaricom subscriber with an M-PESA account.
- For folks with dual sim devices, it pays to deactivate your secondary sim so Safaricom is the only one active.
- Also in my experience, you might need to change the default sim card for SMS to Safaricom
After ensuring you have all these prerequisites,
- Open your Play Store and select Account from the left slide-out menu.
- Select Payment Options
- Under this menu, you should see M-Pesa Xpress
- Proceed with the set-up steps to associate Play Store with your Safaricom Number.
Setting up M-PESA XPress, courtesy of Techweez
On successfully setting up your Play Store to accept M-PESA payments, simply head on to the Store and browse for the premium app or game you would wish to purchase. Tap on purchase and select M-PESA as your preferred mode of payment and that’s it. You should get a pop-up from Safaricom asking you to authenticate the transaction with your M-PESA pin and with that, you’re done.
Making Purchases on Play Store. Courtesy of Techweez
Featured Image courtesy of TechChains