Even before I got to this year Bitcoin conference in AfricaI saw attendees posting about… Tandoa new Kenya-based payments app that allows users to spend their money with merchants that don’t accept Bitcoin.
Just arrived in Nairobi 🇰🇪🛬 and the first thing I see when I leave is @tando_me Banner
Let’s go @AfroBitcoinOrg 🙌🏾 pic.twitter.com/zhPSP2dTH8
—Okin | Nikolai Tjongariro (@OKIN_17) December 8, 2024
“How is this possible?”, you may ask. Well, let me explain.
To use Tando, simply download the app and get ready to pay to any merchant that accepts payments via M-PESAMobile money service in Kenya. (Note that I didn’t say you have to go through an onboarding or Know Your Customer (KYC) process, as neither is necessary — Tando does not collect any identifying information from its users.)
When the merchant presents you with your invoice, simply tap the “Send Money” box on the app’s home screen. From there, you enter the mobile phone number associated with the M-PESA account you are sending money to and then enter the amount of Kenyan Shillings you want to send.
The app automatically calculates how much vacation it will take to cover the shilling amount you entered. You then click the green “Create Invoice” button to get your Lightning invoice. You then copy the invoice and pay it via your preferred Lightning wallet. Tando receives the sats and then settles the bill in shillings with the merchant within seconds.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen Bitcoin users using Tando to pay restaurant bills or taxi fares since I’ve been here. (I’ve been to a lot of restaurants and taken a lot of taxis since arriving.)
Now, I know what some of you are thinking: Tando interfaces with the cash payment system, which means it should be excommunicated from the Bitcoin church.
But before you allow yourself to entertain this kind of thinking, please consider the following concepts:
- You are a loser.
- Here in Kenya, as in other parts of Africa, people actually use Bitcoin for payments.
- When you show someone how to use Tando, it provides you with an opportunity to explain to the trader what Bitcoin is and also show them how the app works. (I watched Gorilla kit‘ Brendon Moen Do this brilliantly for a waitress at an after-party conference.)
- M-PESA requires that its KYC users and some Kenyan citizens do not have the proper documentation to do so, which means they are excluded from the system. Using Tando, it can be integrated into Kenya’s broader monetary system.
The excitement surrounding Tando at the conference was part of the broader enthusiasm around apps that are making Bitcoin easier to use across the African continent – apps like Petsako, They are drunkvideo Pitnob.
Huge shout out to the developers #Bitcoin Wallets are easier to use.@bitsacco @Machankura8333 @fedibtc @tando_me @loicbtc pic.twitter.com/UhVw5bnBxO
– Frank Curva (@frankcurva) December 11, 2024
African Bitcoin users are far ahead of their US counterparts when it comes to using Bitcoin as it was intended to be used – as peer-to-peer electronic cash.
While many Africans are working tirelessly to onboard as many merchants as possible into Bitcoin, Tando is an excellent intermediary step that allows Bitcoin users to spend their money even if the merchants they spend with do not yet accept Bitcoin payments.
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