Meet Dau-Pesa, Tanzania’s new mobile money service

A new mobile transfer platform has been unveiled in Tanzania. Called Dau-Pesa, it is yet another affirmation that Mobile Money transfers still have a very definite future in Africa. Mpesa, the mobile-phone based money transfer and microfinancing service from Kenya, has not only enabled African citizens from urban and rural spaces the convenience of sending money but it has overhauled the workings of its entire banking system.

Like its Kenyan cousin, Dau-Pesa will enable residents to make payments to various services. The new mobile money transfer was unveiled by the Tanzanian Informal Sector Worker Union (ISWU). The services that residents can use with the Dau-Pesa are Luku, Dawasco, DSTV, and Zuk.

Dr Dauda Salmin, the Director for Dau-Pesa, noted that the platform has been designed to work in three ways:

“Customers can make Dau Pesa transactions using their phones on the Vodacom, Tigo, Airtel or Zantel networks,” he said.

To make Dau-Pesa transactions on the phone, customers are urged to dial *150*47# and follow instructions.

The second way is payments through the Dau-Pesa card, which will enable users to pay bills by visiting their bank.

The third, Dr Salmin went on to say, is that users can also use Dau-Pesa through Point of Sale (PoS) machines. “These are machines that have been connected to various banks to make transactions. In this case, we have collaborated with Tanzania Women’s Bank and Covenant Bank. Customers can now deposit or withdraw from either of these banks through POS machines.”

“Dau-Pesa is a technological service that aims at easing the way we make money transactions. We call upon Tanzanians to take it up and make well use of it for their transactions,” Dr Salmin urged.

According to Salmin, Dau-Pesa is also available in Kenya and Rwanda, and the company is planing to reach a multitude of East African countries over the next 12 months.