Google has teamed up with a leading Kenyan bank to launch a pre-paid card for bus travellers, in what it says is a first step to a wider involvement in the country’s mobile payments market.

The US firm has partnered with Equity Bank to offer an NFC-based card called Bebapay that enables travellers to purchase tickets on the country’s buses.

“In time, Equity Bank will roll out Bebapay more widely, beyond the world of transport,” said Google’s Africa blog, which also talks about shopkeepers and other small businesses downloading a Bebapay app onto NFC-based Android smartphones, so turning them into card readers. In that way, a shop can use their handsets to accept payments from consumers, said the blog.

However a search under the term “Bebapay” in Google’s Play Store did not turn up the app.

The Google-Equity Bank initiative, particularly if widely deployed, is a potential rival to M-Pesa, the highly successful mobile money service offered by Safaricom, Kenya’s dominant mobile operator.

Previously, Equity Bank partnered Safaricom to offer a bank account called M-Kesho that was based on M-Pesa.

The new Bebapay cards are available for free. A traveller can load money onto the card by a cash payment at certain Equity Bank agents, or by using mobile money (whether it is available for top-up via M-Pesa is not specified).

There is also Bebapay website where consumers can access their accounts. Every time they use the card, the user is sent a receipt via SMS.

Google and its bank partner have been trialling the service for some time.