IntaSend provides the best payment gateway service in Kenya. This article will share more on why we decided to build it, how it works, and our objectives. To better understand the dynamics in the payments industry in Kenya, let's look at the current landscape and trends.
The mobile money industry has grown exponentially in Kenya over the past few years, thanks to people’s acceptance of the technology and the many solutions it has brought to solve real-life problems. The mobile money industry has changed how people transact business and personal lives. It has made it easy for Kenyans to access payment, transfer funds to each other, and pay bills. This has had a positive impact on the quality of life in the country.
Mobile money has made it easy for the unbanked to access financial services such as deposits, savings, credit, and money transfers. The industry has also created new forms of employment for M-Pesa agents. Technology has created convenience. Kenyans can now participate in the economy and economy-related activities without needing to travel long distances or deal with hassles such as queues at banks and ATMs.
Through integrations, banking has been improving in recent years, making it easier and faster for people to use their phones to access their money. This has led to an increase in mobile banking usage in Kenya, with some estimates suggesting that half of the population uses mobile banking at least once a month. This has had a big impact on the economy, with mobile banking transactions surging to a whopping 63% only in 2021, according to reports on Business Insider.
The chart above was created using the information provided by Lars Kamer, Statista’s research lead covering Africa. It shows Kenya's total registered mobile money users from February 2021 to February 2022. Kenya remains a big player in the mobile money industry, one of the two biggest names in Africa as far as mobile money is concerned. In the chat above, the industry has maintained a positive flow, and as of February 2022, Kenya had a total of 67.9 million registered mobile money users.
Payments Interoperability
With payment interoperability, Banks and other payment service providers (PSPs) from various systems or countries can conduct, clear, and settle payments across systems by utilizing payment system interoperability rather than participating in numerous systems.
As much as Kenya has recorded tremendous growth in mobile money, there is a big gap in payment interoperability. A few years ago, M-Pesa made its API available, and developers started building great products that accept and send mobile payments. Although this option exists, there is still a clear need for merchants to interface with other payment methods, provide many ways for consumers to pay, send money locally and across borders, build secure digital products, and much more.
At IntaSend, we saw this need and have been working on a payment gateway that solves the issues around payment interoperability. Our goal is to give African businesses a way they can integrate once and do more with a single payment gateway.
Interoperability use case: Read - How to receive payment from CashApp in Kenya
Need for a Better Payments User Experience
Despite the remarkable progress M-Pesa has made to make life easy and payments convenient in the country, we still need to innovate and improve the user experience. To enhance mobile payments at POS, M-Pesa has made STK Push/MPesa Express to make it easy and fast for customers to pay. With the API, the merchant can pre-fill the payment details, and on the other end, the customer simply has to enter their PIN and complete the transaction. Although this makes payment easy, businesses have to integrate. This means they need a technical person and invest in the integration. Integration also takes time because of the lengthy process of getting approval from the provider (M-Pesa). Solutions like M-Pesa Express are great but still hard for the merchants to add to their workflows and use.
We believe payment integration should be easy and with no-code options. IntaSend takes this as a challenge, and we have been working on solutions for merchants that enable them to easily add to their payments processes with no code or little code. In addition to the M-Pesa express, we have simplified “Buy with Bitcoin” ACH, and card payments (3DS2). Our approach is to create both business and developers-friendly. Businesses can integrate and transact with high success rates.
Need of a Feasible/Alternative KYC for Africa Users
Kenyans and many Africans are locked out of international payment services such as PayPal and Stripe because of a lack of proper KYC documents. To be AML compliant, payments companies collect documents that are used to identify the user, including address verifications and bank information. It can be challenging in a country where the physical address systems are poorly documented, and most people are relatively unbanked (rely on mobile money instead of bank accounts).
There is a need for a provider who understands these challenges, can provide access to services, and still be Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliant. IntaSend has been working with unregistered businesses and freelancers to provide access to international payments. Through our innovative technology, we have signed them up for the service properly and meet the AML obligations.
What is IntaSend?
IntaSend is a digital wallet for money transfer, which is similar to M-Pesa but with many ways to fund accounts, send money, and API. Ways of funding or accepting payments with IntaSend include MPesa, Bank payments, Card (Mastercard/Visa) Payments, and Bitcoin. Businesses (both registered and unregistered) can accept payments through no-code payment links, smart invoicing systems, and the API. We provide no-code tools, e.g WooCommerce/WordPress SDK, Bubble plugin, Shopify M-Pesa and Card app, and RESTFul API and SDKs for developers. To be the best payment gateway in Kenya we understand what it takes to build a world class payment system. Our founders and team have extensive experience from the banking sector where we built scalable payment systems for banks before joining IntaSend.
Accepting Online Payments
Some years ago, accepting online payments as a merchant was difficult. Merchants would have to go through a lengthy process of getting a reliable payment provider that would enable them to accept online payments. However, the narrative has changed over the past few years as top payment providers in Kenya have implemented some changes that have made the process of accepting online payments easier than ever - IntaSend is one of these payment providers. With IntaSend, you can accept online payments from your customers, clients, and donors with just a few clicks. This is because IntaSend has an easy-to-use platform with features that allow you to accept online payments securely and with ease.
Why You Need To Receive Your Online Payments with IntaSend
Best way to receive international payments
With IntaSend, you can seamlessly receive payments from your international clients by creating invoices and sending the payment links to them. Our platform helps you improve cash flow and reduce costs by automating your back-end processes, so you can focus on what matters most: delivering great service for your clients. IntaSend is the only solution that allows you to receive payments from your international clients in their local currency, so you never have to worry about exchange rates. Our API allows you to build custom integrations tailor-made for your business needs.
Payment integration API
Developers can now access tools and SDKs to implement code and no-code solutions to integrate the IntaSend payment gateway on their websites and mobile applications. IntaSend’s no-code solutions for mobile apps are designed for developers with minimal experience in mobile app development. The IntaSend SDK provides a complete solution for developers to build a no-code IntaSend payment gateway in their mobile applications without writing any code.
Some of these include PHP SDK, Javascript SDK, Python SDK, WooCommerce and Shopify plugins, REST API calls for any language, and Bubble.io and other no-code solutions.
Fast payouts
IntaSend understands how important fast cash flow is to the success of any business, which is why the brand has allowed its users to withdraw their funds as soon as possible. Payments with Bitcoin and mobile money are made available instantly, while card payments take about 2-3 days to be settled. The good thing is that once the funds have been cleared and are available in your IntaSend account, you can withdraw them to your preferred account immediately. IntaSend supports several Kenyan bank accounts and mobile money wallets like M-Pesa.
Many ways to get paid
People love IntaSend’s payment technology's robustness and partnership with giant card providers like MasterCard and Visa to give its users multiple payment options. IntaSend also supports payments to and from several local banks and mobile money wallets in Kenya. You can also pay with Bitcoin, allowing you to receive cryptocurrency payments. Our ACH service also enables you to get paid by clients in the US without a U.S. bank account. This helps increase your chances of getting paid by your U.S clients that don’t have access to the other payment methods we mentioned earlier.
High success rates
When a payment provider has a success rate of 99.99% with its card, Bitcoin, mobile money, and ACH payments, you should know its track record speaks volumes, and it is indeed the best payment gateway in Kenya. If any of these payment methods ever fails (which is very unlikely, except for card payments which may encounter occasional glitches), IntaSend has a system that suggests other payment methods for your clients to try so the money can get to you as soon as possible.
24/7 customer support
If you run into any troubles with your IntaSend account, you can always count on its 24/7 customer support to come through for you. The customer support team is available to answer your queries through email, live chat, and phone calls. You can also use the customer support team to resolve any issues that you may have with your payment gateway.
Payment Service for Freelancers and Unregistered businesses
We have worked as freelancers and clearly understand the pain points of receiving payments while in Africa.
Services like Upwork charge up to 20% on transaction fees and take up to 10 days to process. Paypal also takes 10 days. Because of complex onboarding processes, it has also been a big challenge for unregistered businesses (personal accounts) to work with the local payment gateway providers.
Personally, I also worked for a bank as a consultant (Software developer), and I have a good understanding of what it takes to build a financial system.
We see a big opportunity in Africa where there is a barrier regarding proper KYC, the need for foreign bank accounts, etc., for businesses to be paid. We can make it easy for them while aligning with the local regulatory bodies. This way, we provide shorter payout periods which is important for cash flow management. Our strategy is to deploy the same concept in other African countries in the next 2-3 years.
IntaSend Business Solution
You can send payments in Kenya in little or large amounts using IntaSend Business Payments. It is less expensive and faster. The platform is built on a state-of-the-art wallet service, making it faster and more secure. We combine traditional payment methods such as bank transfers with blockchain technology to provide more efficient, secure, and reliable services. This enables businesses to pay their suppliers and employees in Kenya in real-time and anywhere in the world. It is a secure, efficient, cost-effective way to pay employees, suppliers, and other vendors in Kenya. Payments are instantly made to bank accounts and mobile wallets.
Use cases of IntaSend’s Business Solution
B2B payments
IntaSend’s business solutions allow you to send out B2B payments from a single dashboard and API, which is a convenient way to perform several transactions like payment of bills and payments to suppliers with the click of a button. The IntaSend payment gateway allows you to accept customer card payments and send out B2B payments from your dashboard.
In addition, the IntaSend payment gateway is secure and PCI compliant, ensuring that your payment information won’t be compromised while being sent and received. IntaSend takes security seriously and partnered with SISA Infotech (A global Cyber Security Company) to help secure the gateway. This gateway is tested and under 24/7 surveillance.
For B2B payments, we have made the interface intuitive, making it a good choice for users who want to quickly get their money moving without having to manage complex settings.
Bulk payment - Salary payments
From your IntaSend business dashboard, you can send payments to multiple recipients at once. You can always upload an excel sheet with the beneficiaries’ details and send payments to them all at once. Once uploaded, IntaSend processes your upload and sends the payments to the correct recipients. You can use your IntaSend dashboard to monitor the status of the payments and check for any errors. This saves you time since you don’t need to follow up on each payment manually.
If you own a business that constantly requires you to send out payments to multiple recipients at once, IntaSend is the perfect choice for you. The system allows you to send payments to up to 5000 users simultaneously. Cases like this include and are not limited to loan disbursements, payroll payments, and other recurring payments. IntaSend’s customer support team can always help you if you ever encounter any problems. It will help you solve whatever problems you might have encountered while initiating those transactions.
Payments API
If you ever decide to build your payments workflow, IntaSend is always there for you to help you build it successfully with its easy-to-use payments API. From setting up your payment method to receiving and sending payment, IntaSend will help you quickly get your payments workflow up and running. The platform has various other features to help your business grow, like customizable email templates and real-time payment tracking.
This payments API aims to help reduce human errors that come with manual payments. It will also help create efficiency in sending payments to your team, contractors, and many more. At the end of the day, you’ll get an easy-to-use tool that allows you to manage and track payments without stress.
How Does It Work?
Add beneficiaries
To get started, add a list of all your beneficiaries through the API or your dashboard. If you need to make any changes to the list, you can do that through the source file (usually an Excel spreadsheet) and reupload it through your dashboard.
Preview
You don’t want any mistakes when sending out payments, so you must double-check the beneficiary list before authorizing payments. This has to be done manually, but the good thing is that once you’ve confirmed the list, you don’t have to repeat this process.
Authorize payments
Once you’ve previewed the beneficiary list, you can proceed to authorize IntaSend to send payments instantly and securely to your beneficiaries. A report will also be generated for bookkeeping.
Wallet as a service infrastructure (WAAS)
IntaSend offers wallets as a service API to customers, developers, and businesses. IntaSend provides a sandbox for developers, which includes a platform for building, testing, and managing digital currency-based applications on the IntaSend network. Developers get access to a payment console for building and testing payments. The API includes wallet as a service and payments APIs for building digital wallets.
We have put together a couple of use cases for the wallet service. Learn more in this article: Wallet As A Service API - 9 Best Use Cases
Conclusion
IntaSend is considered one of the best payment gateways in Kenya for freelancers and businesses accepting international and local payments. IntaSend’s mission is to provide an easy and secure way for Kenyans to transact and bank, and the early results are encouraging. We have already processed transactions for thousands of users who trust the brand to give them the desired quality service. For us, we are just getting started.
IntaSend stands out from the crowd of other payment gateways in Kenya because the brand values its users and does its best to give them quality service through safety, convenience, and ease of use. As a brand, we are committed to improving the lives of our users, and since our inception, our focus has been to build a better future for everyone.
Good payment user experience (UX) is at the core of IntaSend’s payments workflows and designs. IntaSend is committed to making sure its users can pay for goods and services with the least amount of hassle and the most amount of security. IntaSend team takes the time to understand its user’s needs and strives to provide a platform that is easy to use and reliable. The platform has built a strong reputation for its prompt payouts, and its users are generally happy with their experience on the platform. IntaSend has a clear vision for the future of digital payments in Kenya and is working hard to achieve that vision. The company has the potential to become a premier provider of secure, reliable, and easy-to-use digital wallet services in the country.
FAQs
- How do I start using IntaSend?
Getting started on IntaSend is one of the easiest things you can think of. All you have to do is to sign up with your information (mostly email address, phone number, and preferred password), fill in a few details about your business, and confirm your registration from a confirmation email that must have been sent during the signup process.
- How much does it cost?
It costs nothing to create an account with IntaSend, as registration is completely free. However, you will be charged for every transaction you perform via IntaSend, whether card payments, mobile money transactions, or ACH.
- Which documents do I need to use the service?
Identity verification is a high priority on IntaSend. After completing an individual verification step, depending on your account type, some of the required documents range from Business Registration to KRA Tax Certificates. Learn more about account verification and required documents here.
- How long does it take for the account to be approved?
After creating an account, you need to submit your verification documents. Our compliance team will review and invite you for a live screening meeting. This process normally takes 1 business day.
- What is the live screening meeting?
A live screening meeting is basically a call with your IntaSend account manager. We do this to properly understand your business, the people behind it, and how you intend to use your IntaSend account so we can get you set up properly.
- Which countries do you support?
IntaSend currently supports businesses and users in Kenya. We have plans to support more countries soon.
Photo by rupixen.com on Unsplash
