Mastercard, M-Kopa enter pilot pay-as-you-go solar partnership in Africa

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

US credit cards provider Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA) will provide a new payment technology to Kenyan solar power firm M-Kopa Solar that will enable it to extend its residential solar offerings to Uganda, and possibly other parts of East Africa.

M-Kopa Solar makes solar home systems affordable to low-income off-grid households on a pay-as-you-go installment plan. Its customers get power on daily mobile money payment plans and the cost is lower than that of kerosene fuel.

In a press release on Monday, Mastercard said that the Kenyan firm will pilot its quick response (QR) code-based application that allows merchants to accept payments from a customer’s mobile phone without using point of sales (PoS) machines. M-Kopa’s clients will now be able to pay either by scanning a QR code from their phone or by entering the merchant identification number related with the QR code into their feature phone.

Source: Renewables Now (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Energy, Finance
Tags
off-grid energy, renewable energy