O-CITY announces initiative to drive contactless payments across bus services in Kenya

The O-CITY pilot, designed to reduce the use of cash in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, was launched in partnership with the transport savings and credit company NikoDigi and the payments firm Tracom to accelerate the deployment of cashless fare collection.

According to the press release, Matatu buses are used by 70% of Kenya’s population, and passengers traditionally pay for the ride in cash. O-CITY’s automated fare collection platform leverages the M-Pesa mobile wallet, which is used by 90% of the population. Passengers enter a code on their phone and a debit is made on their wallet, which is then checked by drivers to grant permission to ride.