Jonah Simba is visually impaired. Some time back he needed to withdraw money at an M-Pesa agent in Thika town. He asked someone to assist him make the transaction and ended up losing money to the stranger.
“I had Sh10,000 in my account and needed to withdraw Sh5,000. The lady withdrew Sh6,000 and I only got to notice this when I arrived back in Nairobi,” says Mr Simba who works at the Kenya Union of the Blind.
To cushion the blind against fraudsters and ensure financial inclusion for the segment, in 2017 Safaricom introduced the M-Pesa voice platform that allows users to query their M-Pesa balances.
“Nowadays I just dial 456 and my phone tells me the balance on my phone so it has made me to avert being conned,” he divulges.
He only hopes the telco would add more features including withdrawing cash, send money, buy airtime and Lipa na M-Pesa.
To further deepen financial inclusion, the telco introduced the DOT Braile watch that displays SMS notifications in braille, enabling a visually impaired person to read.
Derrick Band who uses the Dot smart watch that was unveiled in 2018 says the smart gear ensures there’s privacy and confidentiality that weren’t there before.
“So in case you receive a text, M-Pesa or WhatsApp message, you can be able to privately read without having to broadcast,” explains Mr Band.
The device displays SMS messages in a braille format and has time and alarm functions in braille.
The output device makes messages secure and private by transforming them into coded braille.
The DOT Braille watch and M-Pesa Interactive Voice Response (IVR) enable persons with visual impairment access M-Pesa services independently and confidentially. This ensures they are not left behind in financial developments and can thus improve their economic wellbeing.