Kenyans sent Sh1.1tr via phones in three months

Safaricom accounted for more than 99 per cent of mobile money transactions across various indicators. [File, Standard]

Kenyans sent Sh1.1 trillion to each other between October and December 2021, a 4 per cent increase from the previous quarter, as economic activity rebounded from the effects of Covid-19.

Data from Communications Authority of Kenya indicates the value of mobile money deposits over the same period rose to Sh1.25 trillion, a 6 per cent increase and the highest in recent years.

“The uptake of mobile money services has continued to grow as a result of its convenience, coupled with consumers preferring to go cashless to curb the spread of Covid-19,” said CA in its latest report.

“Mobile money subscriptions grew by 1.8 per cent during the reference period to stand at 35.2 million, and consequently, mobile money penetration increased from 71 per cent to 72.3 per cent.”

Safaricom accounted for more than 99 per cent of mobile money transactions across various indicators, like value of customer-to-business transfers (Sh1.3 trillion), business-to-customer transfers (Sh900 billion) and business-to-business transfers (Sh2.1 trillion).

The number of active mobile SIM cards registered stood at 65.08 million, representing 133 per cent SIM card registration rate.

The CA said the total number of phone devices stood at 59.5 million out of which 33 million were feature phones and 26 million smart ones. “During the second quarter of the 2021/2022 financial year, mobile users spent an average 1.7 minutes on on-net calls and an average 1 minute on off-net calls,” said CA.

“Airtel users spent more minutes on a single on-net call averaging 2.7 minutes, whereas Telkom Kenya mobile users recorded the highest average minutes per off-net call at 1.5 minutes,” the report says.

In the data market, mobile broadband subscriptions rose 5.4 per cent from 27 million the previous quarter to 29 million in the three months ending December 2021.

At 293,964 subscriptions, Safaricom took the majority share (36.8 per cent) in the fixed internet market, with Wananchi Group’s 229,126 subscribers making it second with 28.7 per cent market share.