An individual who had accused telecommunications giant; Safaricom of taking a hold of his plan to set in motion M-Pesa payments via the use of a simple tap of a phone sticker, wristband or card, has now lost his battle to be paid the sum of 209 million Kenyan Shillings by Safaricom.
According to Mr. Jonathan Murangiri Gikabu the M-Pesa 1 Tap product, was his invention after selling said idea to the telecommunications company in 2014.
The M-Pesa 1 Tap product was a significantly faster way to pay for services or products by simply tapping a card, wristband, or phone sticker without having to follow the standard eight (8) steps to transfer money to merchants.
The High Court Judge; Grace Nzioka dismissed the case making it known, that Mr. Jonathan Murangiri Gikabu was unable to provide any proof that the telecommunications giant; Safaricom did indeed snatch the idea from him.
In the words of the High Court Judge; Grace Nzioka, “It is not a matter of perception or morality. Of course, it may be unprofessional to do so or morally wrong. But from the legal point of view, the Plaintiff (Gikabu) bore the burden to prove the same.”
The High Court Judge stated that even if there could be a possibility that the telecommunications company could have integrated a number of Mr. Jonathan Murangiri Gikabu’s components into its M-Pesa 1 Tap product, providing evidence is still a need.
Mr. Jonathan Murangiri Gikabu sued Safaricom making it known that in 2014, he had divulged confidential information with the telecommunications giant which then made use of his idea to launch its very own NFC (Near Field Communication) mobile payment system called M-Pesa 1 Tap for non smart devices.
Mr. Jonathan Murangiri Gikabu stated that he first began working on his idea around September of 2011. According to him, his project on a mobile payment system was quite successful and even had its Phase One trials getting funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation first via Equity Group and then via the University of Nairobi.
Mr. Jonathan Murangiri Gikabu had during the period when he was preparing to apply for a grant, proceeded to share his innovation with the telecommunications company; Safaricom via an email sent on the 21st of October 2014 on the condition that it (Safaricom), would treat the information in the email in good faith and as confidential.
According to Mr. Jonathan Murangiri Gikabu a total of 9 million Kenyan Shillings was spent by him on the innovation. He stated that he was going to make not less than 100 million Kenyan Shillings from said innovation. He demanded an additional sum of 100 million Kenyan Shillings from Safaricom for the breach. This brought his total claim to 209 million Kenyan Shillings.
Mr. Jonathan Murangiri Gikabu made it known that his innovation combined the capabilities of the long established card based contactless payment systems with the more modern mobile app ‘Pay By The Till’ payment systems with the end game of creating a sturdy mobile money payment system that is easy to use while at the same time being suitable for use with any mobile phone even with those which are not considered as smart phones.
He added that because his innovation has the ability to work with non smartphones, there will be no need for any applications to be installed.
The telecommunications company; Safaricom in response, denied the accusations and stated that the technology in question had been already been utilized by Beba Pay (which was stopped in March of 2015), Buy-more, and Card Planet.
Safaricom stated that it had in the past utilized the product as well via a product it called; ‘My 1963’. My 1963 was basically a method of cashless fare payment card intended for public transport.
The telecommunications company told the court that after it launched its ‘Lipa na M-Pesa’ product, it piloted a project which involved 1,500 of its employees who then used the card to pay for the costs of their meals at its cafeteria.
Later on, it rolled out its M-Pesa 1 tap product which further expanded the growth of its mobile money service; M-Pesa. The launch of M-Pesa 1 tap effectively reduced the amount of steps users have to take whenever they intend to make a Lipa na M-Pesa transaction reducing it from eight (8) steps to two (2) steps and boosting the convenience and speed.
According to Safaricom the solution that is its M-Pesa 1 Tap product contains an innovative and also proprietary authentication procedure that is in no way, connection to Mr. Jonathan Murangiri Gikabu’s innovation.
Safaricom made it known that the M-Pesa 1 Tap product was developed by it (Safaricom) in collaboration with a number of third parties. It stated that the technology was available freely as the industry standard and no one is able to lay any claim to it.
In its defense Safaricom expressed that Mr. Jonathan Murangiri Gikabu sent them unsolicited information. As a result of that, said unsolicited information could not create any obligation of confidence to the telecommunications company.
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