Paysure Limited has today partnered with Kenswitch and Chase bank to offer an online payments platform, to tap into the growing ecommerce market in the region. Kenswitch member-bank cardholders can now make purchases on the internet using their debit or prepaid cards.

One of the recipients of the 2012/13 Tandaa Kenya grant by the Kenya ICT Board, Paysure Limited has developed a web application that facilitates the usage of Kenswitch cards to make payments over the internet. The service enables anyone who wishes to receive payment remotely to do so in a secure and flexible way, whether or not they have a website.

The Paysure service relies on Kenswitch, the national payments switch, to connect to 30 financial institutions, whose cardholders will now be able to use their ATM cards to make payments online.

“The lastest sector statistics from the Communications Commission of Kenya indicate that the number of internet subscribers in Kenya increased by 13.48% to 13.65 million users as at 31st December 2011. Many households are now connected to the internet either through mobile phones or personal computers,” said Kenswitch Managing director George Wainaina. “We are coming in to offer an online payments gateway that allows the growing middle class and SME sector, to use debit cards to pay for goods and services online,” he said.

Speaking at the signing ceremony in Nairobi, Kenswitch Managing Director said that this was a major milestone for Kenswitch in diversifying its offering. A unique feature of the Paysure product is the automated settlement process that is provided by Chase Bank. One advantage of this process is that beneficiary funds are credited directly to their bank accounts in 1-2 days. The application process is easy and can be completed in as little as 48 hours.