Safaricom customers can now buy airtime for as little as Sh1 from their M-Pesa mobile wallets, a significant reduction from the previous minimum of Sh5, as the telco targets to mop up additional revenue from low-budget spenders.
In an update on Monday, Safaricom urged customers to run a test on the newly activated model, setting a tone of greater inclusivity.
“Hata shilingi ni pesa! Sasa unaweza kununua Safaricom airtime ya kuanzia shilingi moja ukitumia M-Pesa. Angalia M-Pesa balance yako na ujaribu kununua leo,” rthe update reads, loosely translated as “Even a shilling counts! You can now buy Safaricom airtime from Sh1 from M-Pesa. Check your M-Pesa balance and try buying today.”
According to current Safaricom tariffs, voice calls are charged at Sh4.87 per minute during peak hours and Sh2.50 off-peak, while sending a text message costs Sh1.20.
“You will be charged 50 cents on your third reverse call request. Please note that you will not incur any other cost to use this service for the rest of the day,” Safaricom told customers in a text message last month.
The Sh1 airtime purchase option is seen as a complementary service to this development, as it will enable cash-strapped users to meet the new requirement with relative ease.
Safaricom first introduced the reverse call option five years ago in June 2019, allowing subscribers to make calls free of charge by transferring the cost of the call to the recipient.
The feature was designed to complement the ‘Please Call Me’ service as part of the telco’s efforts to drive subscriber numbers and, ultimately, revenues.
Safaricom’s dominance of the local voice market rose 65.5 percent in the quarter ended March this year, up from 63.3 percent in December, reducing that of its chief rival Airtel to 33.96 percent from 36 percent during the period.
The leading telco had 44.67 million subscribers as of March this year, but this has not translated into a steady jump in revenues largely due to the millions of people who have taken up the reverse call option.
