Mobile cash transfers surge to Sh425bn in first quarter

Mobile phone based transactions hit Sh425 billion in the first three months of this year, a Central Bank (CBK) report has showed.

This was an increase of Sh64.6 billion from a similar period last year. The rise in value of transactions indicates that mobile money continues to penetrate the country and has become part and parcel of peoples’ lives.

According to CBK, Kenyans made the most transactions in January, where subscribers made deals worth Sh143.7 billion. In February, the value of transactions dropped slightly to Sh142.8 billion.

This went further down in March, when mobile money transactions stood at Sh136 billion. The drop in value of transactions during the quarter was a reverse of what happened in a similar period last year, where mobile money transactions soared month after month. 

During the quarter under review, Safaricom in February raised charges of M-Pesa by 10 per cent after government introduced excise duty of similar margin in a bid to raise more revenue to cater for a ballooning wage bill.

READ: Safaricom raises M-Pesa charges

M-Pesa is the biggest mobile money transfer platform in the East African nation with about 17 million subscribers while Safaricom is the largest mobile service provider.

Most M-Pesa subscribers complained about the tariff increase.

Mobile money agents also expressed fears of drop in business due to rise in charges.

The number of mobile money transactions during the quarter showed mixed signal.

In January, they stood at 53.4 million. In February, the transactions increased marginally to 53.5 million before dropping in March to 52.4 million. During a similar period last year, the number of mobile money transactions maintained a steady growth, starting from 40.2 million in January, to 42 million in February before surging further to 46 million in March.

However, despite the drop in transactions in March this year, the regulator’s data indicated that the number of mobile money subscribers increased during the quarter. In January, the number of mobile money users stood at 21.4 million and rose to 21.8 million in February and in March it stood at 22.3 million.

Kenya ended 2012 with 21.1 million mobile cash transfer services subscribers. This was an increase of about two million customers from the previous year’s number, which stood at 19.1 million.

Similarly, the number of mobile money agents increased significantly during the quarter under review. The number of agents hit 93,211 in March, having begun the year at 85,548 and increased to 88,393 in February. This indicated that mobile money continues to offer hundreds of employment opportunities.

“This growth signifies increased accessibility of mobile money transfer service as well as more employment opportunities for the youth,” noted Communication Commission of Kenya in its latest report on the sector released last month.

As penetration of mobile money surges, the platform is helping drive businesses of service providers. While releasing its end year results last week, Safaricom said M-Pesa as a product had contributed about Sh22 billion out of the company’s Sh125 billion total revenue. Safaricom’s mobile money transfer service customers hit 17.1 million in 2012.