Mobile money payments hit a record KES 7.9 trillion in 2022, fueled by increased demand for cashless transactions and the establishment of 19,711 new money agents.
Data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows the number of active mobile agents rose to 317,983 last year, an increase from 298,272 active agents in 2021, suggesting entrepreneurs recognized an opportunity in the market to provide cash deposit and withdrawal services in under-served areas, particularly in rural regions where there were limited or no mobile money agents.
Further, some 5.09 million new mobile money accounts were opened during the year, bringing the total number of mobile accounts to 73.12 million, up from 68.03 million in 2021, signalling increased demand for mobile transaction services.
The increased use of mobile payments comes at a time when CBK has rolled back some of the incentives it gave customers to accelerate the adoption of mobile transactions, such as scrapping mobile money transfer charges on transactions below KES 1,000, which was introduced in March 2020 amid concerns that the use of cash could help to spread Covid-19.
The apex bank had also scrapped charges on money transfers between mobile money wallets and bank accounts to ease mobile payments but last month reinstated the charges.
