Telecommunications services provider Safaricom has launched mySafaricom app, which provides mobile access to M-Pesa and enables smartphone users to manage their Safaricom accounts on the go.

Account holders can now pre-select contacts or recipients, as well as confirm relevant names and business numbers before sending money.

"The app enables customers to select contacts from their phone when sending money and has a vastly improved implementation of the name search function Hakikisha - which allows the sender to confirm the recipient before the money is sent," the company said.

It added that "In addition to eliminating the possibility of an error when performing M-Pesa transactions, the mySafaricom App now offers a more refined user experience when interacting with M-Pesa, enabling faster completion of transactions."

Safaricom has also halved their Lipa na M-Pesa transaction fees for payment of goods and services. Originally the service charged one percent of the transaction amount, but from the beginning of April, it will charge 0.5 percent.

For amounts bigger than Kshs 40,000 will charge a flat fee of Kshs 200.

"We trust that this development will boost the attractiveness of the Lipa Na M-Pesa platform to more small and medium enterprises while making the service more affordable compared to other alternatives in the market," said Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom.

After months of experimenting with M-Pesa Kadogo, which allowed users to transact amounts below Kshs 100 free of charge, the service will now cover amounts under Kshs 200.

The telco believes the move will benefit small business owners because of the reduced transaction fees and accessibility.

The latest developments come six weeks after the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) launched PesaLink, their new real-time transaction platform that aims to enable users to transact money from their account to any other account through their mobile phone, bypassing mobile money services.

According to KBA, PesaLink is already being offered as a service by 12 banks.