Mobile money payments in Kenya took off in the first half of this year thanks to the increased uptake of e-commerce services and a shift from cash payments to mobile-based payments. Kenya’s mobile money transactions jumped to KSh3.3 trillion between January and June 2021, a 52% increase from KSh2.1 trillion in the same period last year according to data from the Central Bank of Kenya.
Based on the CBK data, Kenyans on average transferred KSh18 billion each day through their mobile phones in the first half of this year.
The number of registered mobile money accounts increased by 6 million to 67.8 million accounts at the end of June 2021 from 61.7 million at the end of June 2020. Similarly, the volume of mobile money transactions increased to 175.8 million transactions in June this year, from 143.1 million transactions in June 2020.
Due to the increased popularity of mobile money services, Kenya’s active mobile money agents increased to 301,457 agents in June, the highest level on record, up from 237,637 agents in the same period a year ago.
Safaricom’s Mpesa service is the most widely used mobile money platform in Kenya. The platform has over 28.31 million active customers based in Kenya and more than 247,000 agents spread across the country. Mpesa generated KSh82.65 billion in revenue for the giant telecommunications company in the last financial year. Safaricom launched the Mpesa super app in June this year with the aim of providing customers with a variety of convenient options when sending and receiving money.
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