22.04 Trillion Shillings Passed Through M-Pesa In 2020 Financial Year

Telecommunications giant Safaricom has released the 2020 financial results where M-PESA revenue declined 2.1 percent YoY with a decline of 14.5 percent YoY in 1H FY21 and recorded significant recovery in 2H FY21 growing 10.1 percent YoY supported by resumption to charging in Q4 FY21.

Total M-PESA transaction value grew 58.2 percent YoY to 22.04 trillion shillings while the volume of transactions grew 29.8 percent YoY to 11.68 billion shillings.

The business added 3.4Mn one month active M-PESA customers up 13.6 percent YoY to 28.31 million shillings in FY21 and M-PESA now accounts for 33.0 percent of service revenue.

“To cushion Kenyans from the rapid transmission of the Coronavirus, guided and in collaboration with the Central Bank of Kenya, the industry waived fees on; Person to Person (P2P) for transactions of KShs 1,000 and below, as well as Bank to M-PESA wallet and M-PESA wallet to bank transfers (C2B and B2C),” said Mr. Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO.

At the same time, Safaricom zero-rated paybills and tills for hospitals and dispensaries as well as Lipa Na M-PESA transactions below KShs1,000. This was lifted from 1 January 2021.

“On resumption to charging, we reduced P2P transaction charges by up to 45% for low-value transaction bands below KShs 7,500 and retained unlimited M-PESA Kadogo (KShs 100 and below) transactions,” said Mr. Ndegwa.

Mobile data grew 11.5 percent YoY sustaining the double-digit growth trend from the prior year. This was largely driven by sustained momentum in customer growth and usage.

Distinct data bundle customers grew 12.4 percent YoY to 16.71 Mn while one month active chargeable mobile data customers grew 2.1% YoY to 20.04 million.

The effective rate per MB has continued to decline as we drive affordability, declining 21.9 percent YoY. Usage per data subscriber grew 32.7% supporting an ARPU growth of 3.7 percent YoY.

4G Active 4G devices grew 39.8% YoY to 8.5Mn while data customers using more than 1GB in our network grew 31.1% YoY to 6.1 million.

The business aims at growing usage by driving access to the network through 100% population coverage on 4G currently at 94 percent, driving smartphone penetration through the device financing program, and introducing new use cases.

Read More: Kenyans Transacted Ksh 4.4 Trillion For Free On M-Pesa To December