Today Safaricom officially launched the M-PESA Super App with a bunch of new features and mini-apps suggesting a greater future for money. However, this was not the only highlight of the live event. During a Q and A session, Safaricom confirmed to Gadgets Africa that the M-PESA app will now work on any network in the world, but there’s a catch.

Mr Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, Managing Director, M-PESA Africa noted that the new super app works on both Offline mode (with no data) and Online mode, with a data connection or WiFi without relying on the SIM Toolkit. This suggests that you can now use the app over any network in the world.

According to Safaricom, as much as you can use the new app on any network, you still need a Safaricom or Vodacom line to register depending on the market due to Know Your Customer (KYC) policies. The app will still be attached to your Safaricom or Vodacom line. This means that you will have to get a Safaricom line to register your M-PESA account, download the app and activate it. After this, you can take your Safaricom line out and transact with any network from any place in the world.

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Uberisation of M-PESA

When asked about the future plans of M-PESA and the quest to take the product globally, Sitoyo said that the company was looking at “Uberisation of M-PESA”. He went ahead to suggest that if the telco chooses to go down that route, users could register for M-Pesa using any telco and not necessarily Safaricom or Vodacom.

This is quite the step for Safaricom meaning it could very soon become a global commodity fighting with the likes of PayPal, CashApp and many more for Market share.