Safaricom, Pesapal Expand M-PESA QR And Tap-to-Pay Services

Safaricom has partnered with Pesapal to introduce new M-Pesa payment options at merchant checkouts, allowing customers to tap an NFC-enabled phone against a compatible payment terminal or scan a QR code generated for the transaction.

The companies announced the rollout on October 1, bringing M-Pesa Tap-to-Pay and Dynamic Scan-to-Pay to Pesapal point-of-sale (POS) terminals. Both methods reduce the amount of information customers have to enter themselves, shifting part of the payment process to the terminal already sitting at the counter.

With Tap-to-Pay, the cashier enters the purchase amount on the Pesapal terminal and selects M-Pesa Express. The customer then unlocks an NFC-enabled smartphone and taps it against a compatible terminal, which opens My OneApp with the transaction details already displayed.

After checking the amount, the customer authorises the payment using an M-Pesa PIN or biometric authentication where supported. The tap therefore starts the transaction rather than completing it automatically, but it removes the need to type a Till Number or enter the purchase amount manually.

Dynamic Scan-to-Pay removes the NFC requirement while keeping the same basic idea.

Once the cashier enters the amount, the Pesapal terminal generates a QR code for that purchase. The customer opens Scan-to-Pay in My OneApp, scans the code, reviews the pre-populated details and authorises the transaction.

Unlike a static QR code linked to a merchant's Till Number, the dynamic code is created for the transaction taking place at the counter and already contains the amount. Tap-to-Pay uses NFC to start the payment, while Dynamic Scan-to-Pay uses a transaction-specific QR code, but both reduce the manual steps that have long been part of paying a Till.

M-Pesa moves onto existing POS infrastructure

That change is possible because Pesapal already has payment terminals in use at merchant checkouts.

Its POS offering supports M-Pesa alongside card payments including Visa and Mastercard, allowing Safaricom to introduce the new payment flows through infrastructure merchants already use rather than through a separate device.

Pesapal founder Agosta Liko told TechCabal that about 30,000 terminals run on the company's platform in Kenya, with many deployed in restaurants, hotels and selected supermarkets.

Central Bank of Kenya data puts the wider national POS network at 57,275 machines in August 2026, up from 54,454 in December 2025. The two figures measure different things and should not be used to calculate Pesapal's market share, but they show the size of the checkout infrastructure Safaricom is beginning to plug M-Pesa into.

For merchants already using compatible Pesapal terminals, the change can happen on hardware that is already at the counter. The customer begins the transaction through the terminal instead of manually supplying the merchant and payment details from their phone.

Safaricom targets 500,000 Scan-to-Pay outlets

The Pesapal rollout sits inside a broader expansion of M-Pesa's Scan-to-Pay service.

Safaricom says Scan-to-Pay is already available at more than 60,000 merchant outlets and wants to increase that figure to 500,000 within the next year. The target refers to outlets using Scan-to-Pay, not 500,000 Pesapal terminals or Tap-to-Pay machines.

Pesapal is the first POS partner in the current Tap-to-Pay rollout, while Safaricom says discussions are underway with other POS providers about integrating the service.

Safaricom has tried contactless M-Pesa before

Safaricom has experimented with contactless M-Pesa payments before.

In 2017, it expanded M-Pesa 1Tap, which allowed customers to pay using NFC-enabled cards, wristbands and phone stickers. After trials in Nakuru, the service was extended to Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret and Nyeri.

The difference this time is the hardware involved. M-Pesa 1Tap required customers to carry a separate NFC accessory. The Pesapal rollout instead uses the NFC capability already built into compatible smartphones and a POS terminal the merchant may already be using for other payments.

What could limit adoption

The new options still have to compete with a payment routine that M-Pesa users already know well: enter the Till Number, enter the amount, then authenticate.

Tap-to-Pay shortens that to something closer to tap → check → authenticate, while Dynamic Scan-to-Pay becomes scan → check → authenticate. Authentication remains part of both flows. The main change is that customers no longer have to enter as much transaction information themselves.

How widely that experience appears at the checkout will depend on device and terminal availability. Tap-to-Pay requires My OneApp, an NFC-enabled phone and a compatible Pesapal terminal, while Dynamic Scan-to-Pay depends on merchants having terminals configured to generate the transaction QR codes.

Safaricom and Pesapal have not publicly disclosed how many of Pesapal's roughly 30,000 terminals currently support Tap-to-Pay or how many M-Pesa customers have compatible phones.

The Till Number has been one of the defining interfaces of M-Pesa payments. Safaricom's latest move is an attempt to make the POS terminal another one.