Safaricom has introduced a new "Tap to Pay" feature within the M-PESA Business App, enabling merchants to accept payments directly from customers' NFC-enabled smartphones without a traditional card machine.

• Merchants can now initiate payments by entering the amount owed, and customers can complete the transaction by tapping their NFC-enabled phone to the merchant's device and entering their M-PESA PIN.
• This new functionality is integrated into the existing M-PESA Business App, used by Lipa na M-PESA till owners since 2020.
• Initially, the feature requires customers to enter their PIN for every transaction, differing from earlier discussions about PIN-free payments for smaller amounts.

Safaricom has expanded its PATA MORE campaign to the Greater Western and Nyanza regions, offering enhanced value on its connectivity products and digital services.

• Customers will now receive more data for their money, with, for example, the KES 1,000 monthly bundle offering 21.5GB, up from 10GB.
• Safaricom is the organization behind this initiative.
• M-PESA users benefit from an increased free Pochi la Biashara transaction limit to KES 200 and a capped transaction fee of KES 50 for amounts above KES 200 for 90 days.

Google has launched the Pixel 11 Series, featuring a new sign-language-to-text (SL2T) model that translates American Sign Language (ASL) into written English via the phone's camera.

• The SL2T model runs locally on the device for privacy and is integrated into Gboard and Live Transcribe.
• Google DeepMind developed the model, trained on over 100,000 hours of data, aiming to improve accessibility for deaf and hard-of-hearing users.
• However, the technology's immediate impact in Kenya is limited due to language differences (ASL vs. Kenyan Sign Language) and the unavailability of Pixels in the local market.