Contrary to news headlines, Kenyans can’t use Chipper Cash to send and receive tips on Twitter.
I was elated when the feature first leaked, even more, when I saw it in use on Sheila Kimani’s Twitter Profile, first dubbed ‘tip jar’ the feature allowed users to earn through tips sent by followers. Now, the social media giant has renamed the feature to just ‘Tips’ and is rolling out the feature to everyone on the platform in the coming days.
Twitter says the testing period proved “people love money” and yes, I am people! Here in Kenya, Tweeps, we’ll call them KOT will also be able to use the feature, you might be wondering then, Cashapp, the most popular payment option available during the testing period is not locally available, and we all know how Paypal treats Africans, what payment option will KOT be able to use easily?
It’s not M-Pesa! Tipped (wink) to be the first payment option to be adopted by Twitter in the country, M-Pesa did not make the list of supported payment services. The services available so far include:-
- Bandcamp
- Cash App
- Chipper
- Patreon
- Razorpay
- Wealthsimple Cash
- Venmo
From this list, KOT Should be able to use the cross-border payments firm Chipper Cash. However, the app doesn’t work in Kenya.
“At the moment, our service in Kenya is currently limited as we are working on big improvements to make the service better. Hence, you’d be unable to access all our app features.” Chipper Cash states.
Not yet but very soon
— WizaJ.eth 🇲🇼🦇🔊 (@wizaj) September 23, 2021
Chipper Cash
Chipper was founded in 2018 by Ham Serunjogi (CEO) and Maijid Moujaled (President) after their brief time working at big names like Facebook, Flickr, and Yahoo. The startup is headquartered in San Francisco, USA with offices in Nigeria, Kenya, and the United Kingdom.
Chipper Cash app was created with the aim of making money transfers easy and efficient for Africans. It also aims to increase access to financial services for the underbanked as well as digitize daily payments to ease the reliance on cash.
The company currently services seven African countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.
So excited that all Twitter users will soon to be able use the new Twitter Tips feature. Really pleased to share that @chippercashapp is the first and only service so far specifically geared to serve African users. Worked hard for this one 💪🏾https://t.co/Vq0i7ikXxL pic.twitter.com/1rD2u9JWcP
— WizaJ.eth 🇲🇼🦇🔊 (@wizaj) September 23, 2021
Hopefully, Chipper cash gets working in the country before the Tips feature rollout is complete, or soon after.
This tip feature also comes at a time when the microblogging platform is planning to launch a creator fund for users who host live audio events on Spaces. The company hopes that the creator fund will incentivize creators to host live audio events on Twitter.
