In a bid to empower enterprises of all sizes, Tende Pay, a pioneering digital payment platform, is set to transform how businesses manage their petty cash. This innovative solution aims to bolster operational efficiency, prevent potential misuse and theft, and ultimately aid in the financial health of Kenyan businesses.

Petty cash management has long been a challenge for businesses in Kenya. The cumbersome manual methods of handling petty cash have proven to be both time-consuming and susceptible to errors. Recognising this need for change, Tende Pay is introducing a comprehensive platform that promises to revolutionize the way businesses manage their small and frequent expenses.

Wangui Njoroge, the SME Commercial Lead at Tende Pay, underscored the importance of digitisation for businesses.

"Businesses, including SMEs, remain the backbone of our economy. Now more than ever, it has become more important for SMEs to assess how to best digitize their businesses, which is why we have designed the Tende Pay platform to assist organizations in managing their working capital and improving productivity by digitizing these payments and having visibility over them," Ms Njoroge said.

Petty cash payments

Tende Pay offers a multifaceted solution that grants decision-makers a 360-degree view of their business operations. Notably, it allows business owners and managers to control petty cash payments by implementing multiple approval levels.

"With Tende Pay, the finance director of a company with several branches across the country, for instance, is able to control how petty cash is dispensed. Tende Pay has empowered them to approve in real-time the expenditure of cash petty exceeding a certain amount, say Sh100,000, from a centralized place," Ms Njoroge said.

This innovation also enables businesses to make various types of payments, including one-off payments, recurring payments, and subscription services, through channels such as M-Pesa, banks, and Paybills. Moreover, it streamlines bulk payments for casual employees and airtime, simplifying administrative tasks for businesses.

The platform's ability to generate expenditure reports is another noteworthy feature.

"The platform also generates expenditure reports to help businesses better plan their finances," Ms Njoroge explained.

Mobile money ecosystem

The impact of Tende Pay's solution is poised to be significant, especially for Kenya's micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). According to the latest report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), these businesses, which contribute significantly to employment, often struggle to survive for more than two years due to financial mismanagement and poor planning.

"Tende Pay can save some of these SMEs affected by financial mismanagement from failing," Ms Njoroge said.

Kenya's growing mobile money ecosystem is also a key enabler for Tende Pay. With mobile money subscriptions in the country standing at 38.6 million, and over 29.5 million smartphone users as of March 2023, the platform's accessibility is poised to make a substantial impact on how businesses manage their finances.