Safaricom rolls Pata More to Rift Valley to cut costs for small traders
Key points
- Safaricom launched Pata More in the Rift Valley to ease costs for customers, especially small traders, amid fuel-price pressure.
- Chief Consumer Business Officer Fawzia Ali said data bundles were doubled without raising price or cutting validity — e.g. 250MB daily for Sh20 (from 100MB).
- Traders had complained of Pochi la Biashara fee friction on small transfers and cash-handling risks for bodaboda operators.
- Offer targets connectivity, digital services and M-Pesa tools for market vendors, bodabodas and matatus across the region’s customer base.
Fuel is up; Safaricom says data and merchant tools should go further. The Standard reported the telco’s Pata More push into the Rift Valley after launches that included Nairobi’s Kangundo Road Market.
Chief Consumer Business Officer Fawzia Ali, speaking in Nakuru, said the campaign aims to reduce burdens “popote ulipo” as the economy feels fuel rises. One headline change: mobile data for more than 30 million customers was doubled without changing price or validity — for example 250MB daily for Sh20, up from 100MB, and 1.5GB daily tiers in the revamped menu.
From Pochi friction to merchant value
Vendor stories in the package show why: a fruit seller who could not take Pochi payments over Sh200 without fee complaints, and a bodaboda rider uneasy carrying night cash because customers capped digital payments. Pata More packages connectivity, digital services and M-Pesa solutions for those micro-enterprises. Whether fee structures truly shift for small merchants will decide if the brand lands as relief or as another promo slogan.
Business desk: Business. Verified officer name, data examples and Rift launch framing from The Standard; full tariff tables sit in Safaricom product notices.
Competitors will match data; the harder fight is merchant fee simplicity. Traders will keep score on the next Sh100–Sh500 transfer, not the launch cake.
Regulators watching market power will note another national promo that binds more daily life to one mobile money rail — convenience with concentration risk.
Safaricom competitors will match data promos; the harder fight is merchant fee simplicity on Sh100 to Sh500 transfers that keep market stalls and bodabodas cash-light at night.
Based on The Standard reporting (Daniel Chege, 11 August 2026). Product terms are as stated by Safaricom; check official app tariffs.
