Safaricom have officially announced partnership with Alibaba’s AliExpress to allow paying with M-Pesa when shopping on the platform. Meaning you can now buy directly from China using M-Pesa.

This is part of the company’s M-PESA Global campaign where we’ve seen

M-Pesa to Western Union
M-Pesa and PayPal integration.

The good thing with M-PESA is payment is not only faster, but also much more convenient for many people who don’t have Visa or MasterCard. You don’t need to calculate charges you may not understand or conversions from Kenya Shillings to US dollars.

Once you’ve selected items that you want to buy on AliExpress, you’ll be prompted on your phone that you’re about to pay in Kenya Shillings a certain amount and the service charge will be clear, all you’ll need to do is enter the PIN.

Delivery is still through the different couriers available. Most buyers however use Posta services. Which still has it’s challenges.

But for people who find shipping directly from China easier for small items under KES. 1000, this is a welcome announcement.

The good thing is in case of any bad merchants who may not deliver items, if you bought Buyer Guarantee, you will be refunded directly to your M-Pesa.

The service is currently only available on the app, and is expected to go live on the website in the coming days. What are your thoughts on this announcement?

Safaricom says this is one of the many partnerships they’re chasing with e-commerce giants. So we should look forward to more.