Kenyan consumers transferred more than $12 billion using mobile money services in the first six months of 2014, according to a new report by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
The report says the value of mobile payments grew by almost one-third to Sh1.1 trillion ($12.5 billion) in the first six months of the year compared with Sh872.1 billion ($9.9 billion) last year. That’s an average of Sh6.2 billion ($70.5 million) per day compared to Sh4.8 billion ($54.6 million) per day in the first half of 2013.
Kenya had a total of 25.9 million mobile money subscribers at the end of June, a 9.2 percent jump from 23.75 million in June 2013, the bank’s report said. Mobile money services have more than doubled of Kenya’s banked population to 67 per cent from a low of 26.1 per cent in 2009.
“There has been increased convergence of banking and mobile phone platforms as banks explore more convenient and cost-effective channels of banking,” said CBK governor Njuguna Ndung’u in central bank’s report.
According to an AsokoInsight news story, Kenya has six main mobile money platforms: Safaricom’s M-Pesa, Airtel Money, yuCash, Orange Money, MobiKash and Tangaza Pesa. Four of those vendors have launched mobile payment products — Safaricom with Lipa Na M-Pesa, MobiKash’s Lipa Sasa Na MobiKash, and Airtel Money and yuCash. Tangaza Pesa is currently pilot testing MyDuka, an online shopping product.
