Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa.

Safaricom’s M-PESA, the mobile money platform, will soon begin offering tap-to-pay services to its more than 60 million members.

This is following the company's receipt of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Certification.

The certification is a worldwide data security standard set by the PCI SSC for companies that accept card transactions.

The PCI DSS says it provides a comprehensive framework for protecting sensitive consumer information during transactions. In addition, it says it ensures that strong controls and security mechanisms are in place to prevent data breaches, fraud, and unauthorised access.

For Safaricom, this comes more than a year after partnering with Visa to introduce the M-PESA GlobalPay Visa Virtual Card, which allows over 30 million M-PESA customers to shop abroad while also paying securely.

According to Safaricom, the clearance is a significant accomplishment for the company and corresponds with its ambition to transition from a telco to a tech company by 2025, as it will now be a worldwide payment facilitator for partners such as Google, Uber, and Microsoft, among others.

"Our desire to innovate and provide cutting-edge solutions to our customers has always driven Safaricom." Security remains at the centre of all we do as we traverse the digital realm. This M-PESA certification recognises our commitment to safeguarding our customers' financial transactions," stated Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa.

Aside from tap-to-pay, the accreditation will allow M-PESA retailers to accept card payments from Safaricom customers both online and in-person.

With this certification, Safaricom joins a select group of African institutions capable of developing a regional payment switch system while protecting the payment data of customers, merchants, and partners.

The company may now improve API functionality in order to increase the number of developers on the M-PESA platform who can deliver better services and expand the array of mobile money services and payment solutions.

"With this advancement, our customers can be confident that our processes protect their data at all times." It also means that our partners will have access to more innovative and secure solutions for their clients," Ndegwa explained.