Safaricom launches M-Tiba, a new health payment platform

Safaricom has partnered with PharmAccess Foundation and CarePay to launch M-Tiba, a new health payment platform to channel funds meant for health services directly to recipients – allowing for effective tracking and monitoring of use of funds.

“We are extending the capability of the mobile phone to make a tangible difference in the way healthcare is delivered in Kenya. M-Tiba will allow services to reach previously inaccessible areas to transform the way healthcare is delivered,” said Bob Collymore, Safaricom CEO.

The service has been on trial for the last nine months at 44 clinics reaching 10,000 beneficiaries.

Using M-Tiba, funds will be placed in specialized health wallets through M-Pesa and their use will be restricted to conditional spending at select healthcare providers who form part of a nationwide M-Tiba network. Donors, governments and other funders,will receive real-time access to monitor the use of their funds.

Safaricom has partnered with PharmAccess Foundation and CarePay to launch M-Tiba, a new health payment platform to channel funds meant for health services directly to recipients – allowing for effective tracking and monitoring of use of funds.

“We are extending the capability of the mobile phone to make a tangible difference in the way healthcare is delivered in Kenya. M-Tiba will allow services to reach previously inaccessible areas to transform the way healthcare is delivered,” said Bob Collymore, Safaricom CEO.

The service has been on trial for the last nine months at 44 clinics reaching 10,000 beneficiaries.

Using M-Tiba, funds will be placed in specialized health wallets through M-Pesa and their use will be restricted to conditional spending at select healthcare providers who form part of a nationwide M-Tiba network. Donors, governments and other funders,will receive real-time access to monitor the use of their funds.

“We are happy to partner with Safaricom to provide this new proposition that will create a situation for donors of full transparency on the use of their funds, reaching their target beneficiaries in a direct, efficient and effective way. We hope that we can convince donors to start using our platform,” said Michiel Slootweg, CEO of CarePay.

The Pfizer Foundation is the first donor partner which will use the M-Tiba platform to reach people in the slums in Nairobi. M-Tiba aims to include public and private health insurers as well, offering micro-insurance products though M-Tiba against very low costs to low-and middle-income groups that couldn’t be reached before.