Safaricom Limited, an integrated communications service provider has introduced a new rent collection and payment service dubbed Lipa Kodi na M-PESA.
Customers will pay Kshs.6 for transactions of upto to Kshs. 5,000 while those paying between Kshs.50, 000 and Kshs.70, 000 will be charged a transaction fee valued at Kshs. 220.
Lipa Kodi (Kiswahili for Pay your Rent) is designed to offer convenience and cost efficiency to tenants, landlords and housing agents by providing them with a safe and reliable rent payment and collection mode.
“Lipa Kodi is yet another solution from Safaricom that seeks to broaden the financial inclusion agenda through the use of the mobile phone. Lipa Kodi is expected to redefine the payment ecosystem for Kenyans and how they meet their rental obligations,” said Safaricom’s General Manager for Financial Services, Betty Mwangi-Thuo.
Kenya’s rental market is valued at an estimated Kshs.17.2B, which is 21% of the total value of the real estate market in Kenya. The 2009 census revealed that there were an estimated 6.5 million rental households in Kenya and with the rapid urbanization, this figure is expected to be higher. Statistics from the World Bank indicate that the average rent paid in urban centres in Kenya is Kshs.5, 898.
M-PESA has since inception continued to grow in terms of revenue’s bottom-line. Last year, M-PESA contributed 18% of Safaricom’s total revenue.
