Safaricom is set to introduce a new feature that will ensure vendors cannot access customers' data when they pay via Mpesa.
The new feature will restrict vendors from accessing a client's phone number whenever they use their pay bill or till number.
Safaricom will now only reveal the first few digits and the last digits to vendors effectively securing the personal information from misuse.
A Mpesa shop/ Photo Courtesy
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This change will be in line with the Data Privacy Laws passed in 2019 that regulate the use of client data.
This comes after a survey by Ernst and Young revealed that 41% of Kenyan companies shared their clients' private information with third parties.
A half of these companies profited from the data as they sold the information.
Caller identification application Truecaller has also revealed that Kenyans are the third most spammed phone users on the globe with an average phone user receiving 102 spam texts monthly.
While more than 90% of business transactions are cash-based, Lipa na Mpesa is gaining a foothold in the country with over 300,000 active merchants signed up.
