Merchants and businesses alike will soon be able to make secure transactions with ease. The Daily Nation says that the benefit to the bank is that people will no longer need to withdraw money in order to make purchases. Shoppers will soon be able to buy items by simply swiping their cards.

The bank has already started issuing out five million MasterCard branded payment cards to its customers, agents and retailers in a move that is set to intensify growing competition within the credit/debit card  market that is locally dominated by the likes of  Visa.

The Daily Nation reports that this will be pretty much like the Beba Card, which Citi Hoppa commuters in Nairobi use to pay their bus fare. The system uses what is known as Near Field Communication (NFC), a wireless technology that enables devices to exchange information when in close range. This technology is currently installed in smartphones and can be used to make payments to retail outlets.