Near Field Communication (NFC) is one of the hot topics in Silicon Valley right now.  With Apple, Google, Visa and others all trying to make NFC payments mainstream in the US, we’re curious about the future of NFC and other short-range payment technologies (NSDT, RFID, etc) in Kenya.

Kenya is home to an ever-growing number of mobile payment companies, most of which rely on SMS/STK/USSD and focus on person-to-person money transfer.  Examples include Safaricom M-Pesa, Airtel Money, Essar yuCash, Orange Money, MobiKash, and Tangaza, to name a few.  

But what about mobile payments at the point of sale?  Is the Safaricom M-Pesa “Buy Goods” command the most efficient way for a consumer in, say, Chandarana Supermarket to purchase a basket of goods?  A new mobile payment company, MobiPay, seems to think the answer is “no”.  

MobiPay uses near sound data transfer (NSDT), a technology created by Tagattitude, which enables consumers to make payments at the point of sale from any handset on any network.  Merchants can either purchase an NSDT-enabled TagPOS or use their handset (the proverbial ‘POS in a pocket’) to accept payments.  

Although MobiPay and Tagattitude have an innovative - and potentially very disruptive - technology, a fundamental question remains: Is the value proposition clear and compelling enough to make consumers change their behavior? 

The future of MobiPay, especially in the coming months as it begins to roll out its service, will be instructive.  Anyone interested in deploying NFC, NSDT, or RFID in East Africa would be wise to track their progress.  

Tell us what you think:  Would you add short-range mobile payments to your daily routine?  Let us know by commenting below, or responding on Facebook and / or Twitter.  

- Ben Lyon