Safaricom has stated that the cashless system that has been adopted by the county governments has led to diminished leakages and boosted revenue by up to 30%. This is because the system eliminates the need for county staff to be present for every transaction.
It has also made it easier for citizens to pay dues to the county governments while simultaneously enhancing the counties’ financial management allowing them to plan, control and monitor their finances.
Basically, what happens is that the counties run an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, that is used for reporting as the payments go into the Paybill. Once this money is received into the Paybill, it then goes through Real-Time Settlement (RTS) into the county’s bank account.
Rita Okuthe, Chief Enterprise Officer, Safaricom had this to say, “As part of our vision to help drive a digital-first economy, we have partnered with 43 counties to enable cashless payment systems and out of the 43 counties, 17 have integrated their systems end to end.” She also added that, “In many of the counties that we have helped implement the cashless systems, revenues have gone up by up to three times.”
Samuel Karanja, who is in charge of Information, Communication and Technology in Kiambu County had this to say, “Our records show that some clients pay for parking as early as 5 am. Before this, you could only pay after 7 am when the parking booths were open. Now our clients can conveniently pay for services without delays.”
The 17 counties that have employed end to end are; Usain Gishu, Kiambu, Kajiado, Nairobi, Nyeri, Laikipia, Nakuru, Mombasa, Kwale, Vihiga, Kisumu, Taita Taveta, Kitui, Makueni, Kericho, Kilifi and Nandi.