Brand in Focus: The Untold Story of M-PESA

M-PESA. Who doesn’t know this term? Some call it M-pesha, to some it is M-besa but to many, it is M-PESA. Whichever way you choose to pronounce it, some key issues prominently come out: evolution, revolution, technology and money.

From the populated streets of Nairobi to the cool breezes of Mombasa, from the land of Ugali in Bungoma to the land that boarders Uganda, Busia, from the rich lands of Kiambu to semi-arid lands of Garissa, M-PESA is a common brand, common in the sense of its popularity, visibility and the services being offered.

The journey begun back in the year 2007 when M-PESA was launched, putting Kenya on the world map in terms of innovations. Since then, M-PESA has been sailing through the economic turmoil in Kenya and appears to be growing bigger with each coming day. With a range of services ranging from deposits, withdrawals, payment of bills as well as microcredit provisions, M-PESA stands out as a unique product and the greatest invention in the transaction world so far.

Before the launch of M-PESA, Kenyan commercial banks enjoyed the monopoly of being the sole providers of monetary services. When M-PESA came into being, the banks so a great competitor and even wanted the government to regulate it. The banks long gave up and even joined the system. Some started offering their own mobile money transfers while some have partnered with M-PESA where one can transfer money from his/her bank account to M-PESA and vice versa.

Read: Brand in Focus: Safaricom Numbers and Facts

Employment Opportunities Created by M-PESA

It is estimated that there are more than 100,000 M-PESA agents in Kenya. These agents are not directly employed by Safaricom Limited but they work and earn their livelihood from M-PESA. These agents earn commissions from both the deposits and the withdrawals made by registered M-PESA users.

The table below shows how the commissions are distributed to agents for every deposit made:

The table below shows how commissions are distributed to agents for every withdrawal made by registered M-PESA users:

The table below shows how commissions are distributed to agents for every withdrawal made unregistered M-PESA users:

According to Safaricom Official Blog, M-PESA’s contribution to the Kenyan economy stands at over 40 percent of the GDP while M-PESA’s average monthly value of person to person transfer is 106 billion shillings; Person to Business is 23.5 billion shillings and Business to Person is 27.8 billion shillings per month. M-shwari, a product within M-PESA, provides avenues for financial inclusion so that Kenyans access loans. Over 11.5 million customers are on M-Shwari, of which 5.8 million are active. There are over 199,000 Lipa Na M-PESA merchants.

NOTE

The views in this article do not necessarily represent  those of Soko Directory Investments. The article has been written to show how Kenyan brands are doing and why we need to support them.