Safaricom and Huawei have launched a payments platform that will allow Huawei phone users to pay for apps and games.
Named Direct Carrier Billing (DCB), the payment method has been integrated into AppGallery, Huawei’s app store that it has been developing for many years.
As expected, DCB is powered by M-PESA, and apps or in-app purchases can be completed from as little as KES 30.
Huawei has been pushing its Mobile services, which also include the app store to access apps, games, and themes.
Huawei, as we have come to know now, cannot do business with American companies, meaning key services such as Google products are no longer part of the Chinese company.
The development has made Huawei adjust its phone business in a variety of ways. It no longer produces as many phones as it used, which has since the once leading phone maker disappear into the shadows.
The company is also planning to update its entire portfolio to HarmonyOS in the coming days. It has already released some hardware running the new operating system, and the plan is to develop a robust ecosystem that does not rely on Google services.
At HUAWEI, our users are at the heart of everything we do and we are constantly looking at ways to increase their overall experience with our products. I am excited about our HUAWEI and M-PESA partnership with Safaricom, as this new additional method of online payment is not only hassle-free, but also so much more convenient – HUAWEI Mobile Kenya Country Head, Jim Zhujie.
We are proud to partner with HUAWEI to offer our customers the simplicity of purchasing from HUAWEI Mobile Services using M-PESA. This shows that our customers are increasingly adopting digital offerings and we are continuously looking to meet this demand with fresh offerings that will add value to our customers. As we continue to roll out our 5G network, we believe that the demand for smarter apps will increase and we want to ensure that our customers enjoy the benefits of modern connected life in an easy, convenient and safe way – Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa.
Finally, Huawei says that making payments via DCB is secure, meaning no personal data is transmitted during the payment process.
