Mobile money transactions grew by 15.2 per cent in the 11 months to November last year compared to a similar period in 2021, underlining the importance of cashless deals.
Data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) show the value of mobile money transactions hit KES 7.2 trillion for the 11-month period, up from KES 6.24 trillion.
In the report, the volume of mobile transactions grew by 4.9 per cent to 2.07 billion transactions from 1.97 billion.
The growth defies the economic slowdown witnessed in the first three quarters of 2022 and the move by the CBK to reinstate charges on low-value cash transactions in January 2021.
The apex bank scrapped mobile money transfer charges on transactions below KES 1,000 in March 2020 to boost mobile money use amid concerns that using cash could spread Covid-19.
The CBK had also scrapped charges on money transfers between mobile money wallets and bank accounts to ease mobile payments; however, this month reinstated the charges saying the waiver achieved its target of growing the use of mobile transactions as well as protecting users from high transaction charges.
The report further stated that Kenyans actively using mobile money increased by more than 6.2 million during the waiver period, while the monthly volume and value of person-to-person transactions increased from 162 million transactions worth KES 234 billion to 440 million worth KES 399 billion.
Consequently, the monthly volume and value of transactions between payment service providers and banks increased from 18 million, worth about KES 157 billion, to more than 113 million, worth KES 800 billion.
“This outcome confirms that the mitigation measures were timely and effective and resulted in significant benefits across the financial system. The resumption of revised charges is aimed at building on these gains, facilitating a transition towards sustainable growth of the mobile money ecosystem, and ensuring affordability of payment services for Kenyans,” CBK.
The increased use of mobile payments comes despite the economic slowdown seen in decelerating growth for the fifth consecutive quarter in the third quarter of 2022.
Read also; CBK Reintroduces Charges for Mobile Money Wallet and Bank Account Transactions.
