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Safaricom’s AI Pay feature in My OneApp lets M-PESA customers scan a printed or handwritten receipt to identify and fill in available Till or PayBill details and the payment amount. It is assisted entry, not a guarantee that every receipt will be read correctly or a reason to skip checking the details before you authorize payment.
How to pay a PayBill from a receipt with AI Pay
Safaricom’s announcement describes the feature’s purpose and inputs, but does not publish a step-by-step in-app path or explain its confirmation screens. In My OneApp, use AI Pay to scan the receipt; if the app recognizes the relevant information, it can populate the available Till or PayBill details and amount. Review the payee and amount against the receipt before authorizing any payment. If the information is missing or incorrect, do not proceed on the assumption that the scan is accurate.
The feature is intended to reduce manual typing. Safaricom has not published an AI Pay recognition-accuracy figure, so whether it reads a particular receipt cannot be guaranteed.
Can M-PESA scan a handwritten receipt?
Yes. Safaricom says AI Pay can scan printed or handwritten receipts. That describes supported receipt types, not a promise that every handwriting style, layout, or receipt will be recognized. The feature fills in information when it is available; the announcement does not detail what happens when a scan fails or omits a field.
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AI Pay, QR Scan-to-Pay, and Tap-to-Pay are different
| Payment flow | What you scan or use | What is populated | Setup described |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Pay | A printed or handwritten receipt | Available Till or PayBill details and amount | My OneApp; Safaricom’s announcement describes the rollout in Kenya |
| Dynamic Scan-to-Pay | A QR code shown on a Pesapal POS | Merchant details and amount for review and payment | The QR code is linked to the merchant’s M-PESA Till |
| Tap-to-Pay | An NFC-enabled smartphone tapped on a Pesapal POS | Transaction details to verify before completing payment | NFC-capable phone and Pesapal POS |
These flows are part of the Safaricom–Pesapal announcement, but only Tap-to-Pay is described as requiring NFC. A receipt scan with AI Pay is not stated to require an NFC phone.
Availability and supported devices
The AI Pay announcement is about Safaricom’s M-PESA service in Kenya. It does not say when every customer will receive access or establish that the feature is available to all customers. Safaricom’s My OneApp Google Play listing identifies Safaricom PLC as the developer and describes AI Pay, QR Scan to Pay, and NFC payments. The listing was updated on 14 August 2026. It confirms an Android app listing, but does not establish iOS support, a minimum operating-system version, or specific camera or handset requirements.
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What the Scan-to-Pay rollout figures mean
Safaricom and Pesapal reported that M-PESA Scan-to-Pay was available at more than 60,000 merchant outlets, with a target of 500,000 outlets within the following year. Those figures refer to Scan-to-Pay merchant locations, not AI Pay receipt scans, AI Pay users, or AI Pay adoption. Pesapal also attributed more than 7 million My OneApp downloads to the app in 2026; downloads are not the same as unique active users.
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The feature description comes from a Safaricom and Pesapal announcement dated 1 October 2026, alongside Safaricom’s Google Play listing. Neither source provides independent performance testing or a quantified AI Pay accuracy result. The announcement also does not explain receipt-image processing or retention, privacy controls, fees, the exact authorization flow, or how outages are handled. Those details should not be inferred from the feature announcement.
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