Mobile money deposits rise to Sh1.3tr in three months, CA data shows
By Steve Umidha, March 29, 2022
Kenyans deposited a whopping Sh1.3 trillion through mobile money transfer providers in three months to December 2021, indicating the importance of technology to the economy.
The latest industry data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), indicates that total deposits held in M-Pesa, Airtel Money and T-Kash between October and December last year was the largest in a single quarter and coincided with the lifting of the nationwide Covid- 19 curfew.
The growth was also attributed to the loosening of restrictions introduced a year earlier to slow down the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The period October to December 2021 was marked by increased activity across mobile network platforms due to the festivities,” reads CA’s second-quarter sector statistics report for the financial year 2021/2022.
However, out of the Sh1.253 trillion deposited through mobile phones, close to Sh1.252 trillion was deposited to M-Pesa, Sh1.36 billion to Airtel Money, while Sh85 million went to T-Kash. This mirrors the ongoing conversation on the extent to which M-Pesa dwarfs competition in the sector. Transactions between customers and businesses similarly recorded a growth of more than Sh1.3 trillion with deals transacted through M-Pesa recording a staggering Sh1.3 trillion, Airtel Money registered a growth of Sh1.4 billion while T-cash handled Sh86 million.
Marginal growth
The value of government-to-customer transfers, however, fell by 48.6 per cent during the review period on reduced Covid-19 relief funds disbursement by the State.
During the period under review, the number of active mobiles (SIM) subscriptions stood at Sh65.08 million compared to the Sh64.89 million subscriptions the industry announced by end of September, a marginal growth of 0.30 per cent.
The uptake of mobile money services has continued to grow as a result of its accessibility, coupled with consumers preferring to use cashless to curb the spread of Covid-19.
Mobile money subscriptions, for instance, grew by 1.8 per cent in three months in December 2021 to stand at 35.2 million, and consequently, mobile money penetration increased from 71.0 per cent to 72.3 per cent.
The ICT sector, according to the regulator, has experienced robust growth as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic that pushed consumers to adopt online ways of conducting business and mobile money payments as safer modes of accessing and paying for goods and services.