A client using a mobile money service M-Pesa. Kenya is one of the world’s leaders in mobile money services. PHOTO | NMG
The proportion of Kenya’s population with access to formal
financial services rose to 83 per cent from 75 per cent in 2016, driven
largely by mobile technology, a survey part-conducted by the central
bank showed on Wednesday.
The country is one of the
world’s leaders in mobile money services, after telecoms operator
Safaricom pioneered its M-Pesa service 12 years ago to cater for Kenyans
without access to the formal banking network.
M-Pesa
has since evolved from a basic SIM card-based money transfer application
into a fully-fledged financial service, offering loans and savings in
conjunction with local banks, plus merchant payments services.
Airtel
Kenya, a unit of India’s Bharti Airtel, and Telkom Kenya Ltd also
operate mobile money services in Kenya, as does Equity Group, a lender
which runs virtual mobile network operator and financial services
platform Equitel.
The survey by the central bank and
FSD Kenya, a campaigner for financial inclusion, found that 41 percent
of the population had bank accounts, meaning the broader rise in access
to financial services had been driven by mobile phone services.
Kenya was ranked third on the continent after South Africa and Seychelles in terms of access to financial services.
South Africa’s access stands at 90 per cent while Seychelles stands at 95 per cent.
Only
14 percent of the Kenyan population had bank accounts in 2006 when the
survey was first carried out. The figure rose to 34.4 per cent in 2016.
The
latest data from the Communications Authority of Kenya shows that as of
December 2018, Kenya had 31.6 million active users of mobile money
transfer services.
Safaricom’s M-Pesa was the market leader with 25.57 million users, followed by Airtel with 3.77 million users.
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