The wizard behind Kenya's first online payment system

Published on 15/07/2008      

By Peter Okong'o

Daniel Mwai believes he is living his Kenyan dream. The founder of One1Pay, touts his yet to be launched service as "the first secure Kenyan online payment solution for business."

Mwai who also runs his a mid-sized cyber cafÈ, Chesed Cyber, in Nairobi's Central Business District, began monitoring the preferences of his mostly young customers, soon after he opened the business one year ago.

"I realised that most of the people would browse the internet for job opportunities, or just wanted to print their resumes," he says.

But a good number were keen on making secure payments online for a variety of services, without the hassle of using a credit card.

His "eureka!" moment came while lying in bed one night (I know … sounds rather corny, doesn't it?).

"It dawned on me that I could make a positive change, and make some money in the process," says Mwai.

The idea was to start an online payment system that would allow people to pay for goods and services online.

"In a couple of years, the amount of bandwith available for e-business will be immense. The planned fibre-optic cable links (Teams and Eassy) will make online payments faster and more secure, with the help of encryption technology," he adds.

And so One1Pay (www.one.paykenya.com) was born. The website is yet to start operating, as Mwai waits to seal a deal with Equity Bank that would significantly open up a huge customer base for his startup.

So how will One1Pay operate without the need for a credit card? Simple, he says.

"Most people browse at cyber cafes. Once you register as a member of One1Pay you can begin accessing services. We will employ attendants as our agents to receive money and credit your accounts for a two-and a-half per cent commission.

After your account is credited, you can now make payments online to the business organisations and government agencies or departments that are One1Pay members, using our link with Equity Bank," he explains.

The system checks your account for funds before allowing you to move on to the next step.

Cyber cafÈs will get money from users in exchange for crediting their One1Pay accounts.

"This means that the cyber cafÈ's will need to have adequate credit in their accounts to sell it in smaller portions — from Sh30 upwards. Our OneNet team which administers our systems and withdrawals," notes Mwai.

Customers will be able to load their accounts with funds from a variety of sources, including Safaricom's M-Pesa and Celtel's Sokotele money transfer services.

It may seem hard to imagine that such a system will be viable, but the reality is that those aged between 16 and 35 use the Internet more and are generally more attuned to new ideas.

sign-up fees

This is the age-group that Mwai is eyeing. If he does get it right, the rewards could be huge, given Equity's marketing links with the big retailers, like Nakumatt and Uchumi, which would allow shoppers to pay for goods online, and then pick them up at the nearest retail outlet, or have them delivered.

Mwai and the bank would make their money from sign-up fees and commissions among other channels.

Safaricom's M-Pesa money service has proven that when it comes to electronic payments, the operative word is Trust. That's where a bank like Equity comes in. This is one financial institution that is not only street-smart (so far), but whose client base is made up mainly of twenty and thirty-something year-olds.

Despite their reputation as passive investors, this age group actually drives Internet revenues: just ask social networking sites like Facebook.

The delicate bit is convincing them to sign on to a payment system at a little extra cost.

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Jean-Louis Kayitenkore
Procurement Consultant
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