Put together an online mall and a credit system such as Zynga, and you could wind up with a retail powerhouse running its own payment system, leaving banks to supply the payment utility but not much else.

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Safaricom also pioneered a service which offers subscribers airtime on credit, introduced the payment of utility bills through the M-Pesa platform and also runs a robust customer loyalty award programe.

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Start-up PayNearMe is bringing its cash payment network to bus tickets, utility bills payments, international money transfers and mobile account transfers.

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The report said the utility company was using community partnerships, watershed management, and flexible payment options to boost access to clean water.

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With no definition of what constitute gross proceeds, any payment for anything is probably fair game, including payments to utility companies, vendors, suppliers, and customers.

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