Visa country manager Eva Ngigi Sarwari(R), Michael Kungu(C) KCB's retail banking director being served by Grace Kimani(L) cashier Naivas supermarket.

State-backed Kenyan Commercial Bank (KCB), Thales and Visa have launched Near Field Communication (NFC) payments.

KCB contactless payments are facilitated through Android smartphones and Garmin wearables.

NFC technology allows contactless payments via mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay and contactless cards.

The technology allows faster payment transactions, cutting down the time customers wait in queues to pay.

Michael Kungu, director of retail at KCB, said: “Eliminating the need for a dedicated terminal and enabling the merchant to use their cellphone to accept card payments is revolutionary and a significant game changer within the digital payments ecosystem.

“Through our partnership with Thales and Visa, we are looking at supporting the financial inclusion agenda and helping businesses deliver new and best-in-class contactless consumer experiences using a device they already own a smartphone”.

Eva Ngigi-Sarwari, Visa country manager in Kenya, said the global digital payment technology company will continue working with the banking sector to enhance customer experience.

"We congratulate KCB for pioneering this technology in Kenya, which we believe will offer customers secure and convenient payment experiences.

“It builds on the work done to expand contactless payments, which has grown substantially over the last three years. This milestone indicates continued investment Visa is making in safe, reliable, and seamless digital payments as part of our mission to help individuals, businesses, and economies thrive", said Ngigi-Sarwari.

In addition, Thales, Nassir Ghrous, vice president for sales in South Europe, Middle-East & Africa banking and payment services, said, “With a growing number of digital wallets for mobile payments at store and in-app, banks and e-Merchants are increasingly adopting secure tokenization services to offer innovative and secured payment solutions to their customers. We are proud to work with KCB and Visa Kenya to roll out this technology for the first time in Kenya.”