Airtel Money has entered into a partnership with Naivas, which would enable its customers to deposit and withdraw cash in all the 109 branches of the retailer.
- •Over the years, Airtel Money has been criticized for the scarcity of its agent shops across the country; allowing Safaricom’s M-Pesa an almost monopolistic dominance.
- •While M-Pesa has over 300,000 agents across Kenya, Airtel says it has 90,000 agents countrywide.
- •The deal is a preliminary strategy for the second-largest Telco in Kenya to popularise its mobile money service by tapping on prime and convenient locations.
“This partnership underscores Airtel Money’s commitment to expanding our reach and ensuring that our services are easily accessible,” said Anne Kinuthia-Otieno, Airtel Money MD.
Airtel plans to renew its inroads into the market after the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) reported in October that the service grew to 6.6% from 5.1% in market share.
In October, Airtel opened a partner shop at Gill House, located along Moi Avenue in Nairobi CBD. The shop was poised to enable Airtel Money agents to easily access float purchase services.
“We are proud that this collaboration is a testament to our dedication to improving the lives of our customers,” said Peter Mukuha, Naivas‘ Chief of Operations.