Airtel Money has expanded its share in Kenya's Mobile Money Market to 7.6 Per cent in the quarter ending September 2024, up from 6.6 Per cent in June.
At the same time, market leader, Safaricom's Mobile Money Platform, M-Pesa, Market share declined to 92.3 Per Cent from 93.4 Per Cent during the period.
According to the industry regulator, this mark's M-Pesa's lowest market share since reporting began in September 2022.
The shift occurred during a period of overall growth in mobile money subscriptions in the East African Country, which reached a record high of 40.6 million users with a 78.9% penetration rate.
The Industry regulator, notes that registered mobile money agents increased by 5.1% to 365,432.
Airtel Money's growth is attributed to strategic initiatives including a partnership with Naivas supermarket chain for agent services and regulatory changes such as increased daily transaction limits to Sh500,000.
The company also removed restrictions on withdrawal timeframes for received funds in February 2024, aligning with the Central Bank of Kenya's National Payments Strategy 2022-2025 to enhance mobile money interoperability.
Meanwhile, Kenya's mobile money ecosystem reached a new milestone with registered accounts hitting 80.82 million in October 2024, up from 75.96 million a year earlier, with transaction volumes rising to 2.076 billion and values reaching Sh7.24 trillion, marking a 12.1 percent growth.
M-Pesa maintains market dominance with over 97 percent share, contributing significantly to Safaricom's revenue with Sh77.22 billion in the half-year ending September 2024, driven by a 13.1 percent increase in average revenue per user to Sh389.27.
The growth reflects increased digital payment adoption, with transaction volumes hitting 2.076 billion and peak monthly transfers of Sh790.8 billion in February 2024.
Recent regulatory changes, including removal of inter-platform transfer restrictions between M-Pesa and Airtel Money, aim to further boost mobile money adoption.
In other news, Cross-border transactions through the East African Payment and Settlement System (EAPS) reached a record $2.015 billion in the 12 months to June 2024.
This marked a 40 percent increase from the previous fiscal year and crossed the $2 billion mark for the first time.
Kenya remains the dominant player in the system, while Tanzania, despite being the most expensive country for sending money, posted the sharpest growth in EAPS transactions value but remains the second-smallest participant after Rwanda.
The growth comes despite rising transaction costs across remittance corridors in the region, with the average cost of sending $200 between countries increasing from 17.05 percent in September 2023 to 25.4 percent in June 2024.
While only four partners - Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda - currently participate in the system launched in 2014, overall intra-EAC trade hit a record $14.3 billion in the year to June 2024, an 18.9 percent increase from the previous year, partly due to Somalia's entry into the bloc in 2023.
The remaining EAC members - Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia, and DR Congo - have yet to join EAPS, though their trade with partner states has been improving since joining the bloc.