Kenya’s mobile money transaction rises in first quarter

Kenyan mobile money transfer users transacted 6.71 billion U.S. dollars in the first quarter of this year, which is an increase of 1.1 billion dollars in the same period last year.

The rise in mobile money use signals how entrenched the service is in the Kenyan society as the number of subscribers and service providers rise.
The telecoms are also coming up with various innovative services that deepen the use of mobile money, with offering of loans becoming the latest sensation.
The largest transaction in the first quarter, according to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) which released the new figures on Monday, was made in March.
During the month, transaction hit an all-time high of 2.4 billion dollars, up from 2.1 billion dollars in February and 2.2 billion dollars in January.
Last year, Kenyans transacted a record 26.1 billion dollars on mobile money, an increase of about 4 billion dollars from previous year.
There are about six mobile money service operators in the East African nation, with Safaricom leading a market share of over 90 percent. Others are Airtel Money, Orange Money, Tangaza Pesa, and FinServe (Equitel), which uses the thin-SIM technology, and is set to start its services in August.
Data from the Communication Authority showed that the new players are already having an impact in the sector, with MobiKash, Tangaza and FinServe having combined subscribers of 2.4 million in the country.
As of the end of March, there were 26 million mobile money subscribers, up from 25 million in January, according to the CBK data. The number of agents, on the other hand, stood at 128,598 during the period, up from 127,187 as the sector continued to employ more people.
“Mobile money use will not slow down anytime soon because about four million people who have phones do not use the service. Besides that, only 30 out of 40 million Kenyans are having mobile phones, which means there is still massive room for growth, and competition will hasten this growth,” said Nairobi-based economics lecturer Henry Wandera, adding that Kenya’s mobile money use is set to surge to new records in 2015 if the current moment is sustained.

SOURCE:Xinhua