A mobile money service in Kenya, Airtel Money, has experienced significant growth in market share, rising from 2.9% to 7.6% by September 2024. Factors contributing to this growth include free Airtel-to-Airtel transfers, lower fees for cross-network money transfers compared to Safaricom’s M-PESA, and more affordable withdrawal charges.
On the other hand, M-PESA’s market share decreased from 97.0% to 92.3% during the same period, with Airtel Money gradually challenging its dominance. The total number of mobile money users in Kenya has surpassed 40 million, with affordability playing a crucial role in users’ choice of service provider.
Airtel Money made strategic moves to attract customers, such as eliminating charges for Airtel-to-Airtel transfers and partnering with Naivas supermarket chain to expand its agent network. The Central Bank of Kenya has advocated for full mobile money interoperability to enable seamless transactions across different networks.
Despite advancements in network interoperability, challenges remain, particularly with agent interoperability, which hinders smaller players from competing effectively with larger platforms like M-PESA. The overall mobile money agency network in Kenya has expanded to over 365,000 agents by September 2024.
To further boost adoption, the Central Bank of Kenya raised the daily transaction limit cap for Airtel Money to attract high-value users and businesses. Customers can now retain funds received from other wallets for an extended period, eliminating the need for immediate withdrawals.