The biggest challenge that the visually impaired face is fraud when they have to share their M-Pesa PINs every time they transact. Persons living with visual impairment and blindness can now independently access Mpesa messages in braille.
Braille is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired.
The partnership will allow visually impaired users the ability to interact with M-Pesa messages independently in braille format and conduct financial transactions.
This follows Safaricom’s Friday announcement that customers who have lost their sight can now conduct financial transactions with confidentiality through the DOT Braille watch.
The watch was unveiled in a partnership between Safaricom and DOT Incorporation.
The Dot Braille Watch is an innovation that is an equivalent of a smart gear that displays SMS notifications in braille hence enabling a visually impaired person to read.
The watch brings all the notifications from any app on a user’s smartphone directly to their wrist. Every text message received on the smartphone is instantly translated to Braille.
Users can then read the message comfortably with the intuitive touch controls on the watch face.
It also provides direct access to all the practical features a user needs such as the alarm clock, timer, stopwatch, time and date,and who is calling without seeing it.
The device has customisable auto-scroll features for the visually impaired. Users can also directly save their Mpesa or any other important messages to check again later.
In 2017 Safaricom announced the coming to life of M-Pesa IVR (Interactive Voice Response) Solution that was aimed at the visually impaired. Safaricom’s “innovation” was aimed at driving financial inclusion further. The service allows Safaricom customers to access their M-Pesa services by dialing 234 from their phones and interacting with the system.
As exciting as this sounds, currently the service is only available for querying your M-Pesa balance but Mother Green says they will be gradually adding other M-Pesa services on this platform.The problem M-Pesa IVR solves is that one will be able to confirm their M-Pesa balance before and after transacting, which is good but it leaves a lot to be desired. I cannot help but wonder what Safaricom would do if they went all in and implemented Voice Recognition into M-Pesa IVR. Their heart is in the right place but the current implementation of M-Pesa IVR Solution is wanting.