Open accounts: Safaricom's Ziidi expands to allow military IDs, all passports

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

- ZiiDi Trader, the M-PESA-based stock trading platform, expanded its account-opening eligibility beyond the standard national ID requirement

- The platform now accepts Kenyan passports, military IDs, and foreign passports, bringing in KDF members and non-citizens

- Users can open an account and begin trading NSE-listed shares entirely from their phones without visiting a stockbroker

Elijah Ntongai is an experienced editor at TUKO.co.ke, with more than four years in financial, business, labour and technology research and reporting. His work provides valuable insights into Kenyan, African, and global trends.

ZiiDi Trader, the M-PESA-integrated platform that allows users to trade shares listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) directly from their mobile phones, has widened the range of identification documents accepted during account registration.

The platform, which previously required applicants to hold a valid Kenyan national ID linked to an existing M-PESA profile, will now also accept Kenyan passports, military ID cards issued to members of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), and foreign passports held by non-citizens living in or transacting through Kenya.

Who eligible to invest through ZiiDi trader?

The updated policy creates three new categories of eligible investors. Kenyans who hold a valid passport but whose national ID is unavailable, lost, or in the process of being replaced can now register using the passport. KDF members, who may not always have their national IDs accessible due to the nature of their service, can use their military identification instead.

The most notable addition is the acceptance of foreign passports, which opens the platform to expatriates, diplomats, and foreign nationals with a footprint in Kenya.

This move positions ZiiDi Trader as a potential entry point for foreign retail participation in the Kenyan stock market, a segment that has historically required intermediaries and substantial paperwork to access.

Alignment with Kenya's Financial Inclusion Agenda

ZiiDi Trader operates under the ZiiDi Fintech platform, which complies with Capital Markets Authority (CMA) regulations. The platform employs two-factor authentication, biometric verification, and real-time fraud detection to secure transactions.

The Central Bank of Kenya has previously noted that mobile money platforms, particularly M-PESA, have been central to extending financial services to Kenyans who were previously excluded from the formal banking system.

ZiiDi Trader's expansion of its identity verification criteria builds on that infrastructure, allowing a broader pool of individuals to participate in capital markets without visiting a stockbroker or submitting traditional Central Depository System (CDS) paperwork.

To open an account, a prospective investor needs an active M-PESA account and one of the four now-accepted identity documents: a Kenyan national ID, a Kenyan passport, a military ID, or a foreign passport. Registration and subsequent share trading are conducted entirely through the platform on a mobile device.

The change reflects a wider effort within Kenya's capital markets to deepen retail investor participation and attract foreign interest in the NSE at a time when the exchange is looking to grow its liquidity base and broaden its investor profile.

Source: TUKO.co.ke

Reporting originally appeared via TUKO. Read the full source for additional context.