Safaricom began piloting a chat application with m-Pesa integration, the company’s latest bid to expand the scope of its already dominant mobile money platform, Quartz reported.

The Bonga system – reportedly developed in-house – will be used for peer-to-peer payments in Kenya with similar functionality to platforms offered by international companies already providing social payments. It will also include the ability to conduct basic banking services such as balance queries.

Similar chat payment services are already available in the US from the likes of Facebook, Snap and Apple. The sector is also being targeted by a number of companies in India where there is an ongoing tussle between social media companies introducing payment functionalities and mobile payment companies adding messaging.

Safaricom is already the dominant player in Kenya for both mobile money and communications services.

Although few details are available on its new platform, media reports suggest it is part of a move into social networking to further expand the company’s influence and diversify its offering.