Kenya sees mobile cash payments rise by Sh268bn
In the first 11 months of 2017, the total combined value of mobile cash transactions rose by Sh267.52bn (US$2.59bn) from the same period of 2016.
According to data released on 11 January by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), mobile payments were worth almost Sh3.31trn ($32.1bn).
This is an 8.8% increase from the total value of payments from mobile phones in the previous year.
However, in November of last year mobile cash transfers accounted for Sh61mn less than in October.
The value dropped by 0.02%, from Sh299.02bn ($2.9bn) to Sh298.96bn ($2.9bn).
SEE ALSO:
Kenya has had a recent rise in popularity with mobile commerce and instantly accessible mobile loans.
According to the Communications Authority of Kenya, between July and September 2017, mobile commerce’s value increased by 60% compared to the same period of earlier year.
During the review period, person-to-person mobile transfers only grew by 14.7% from the previous year.
“E-commerce is actually growing exponentially and person-to-person mobile interactions is also on a rise,” commented Robert Nyamu, Financial Services and Risk Advisory Leader for East Africa at EY.
“The good thing about that, especially on the lower end of the pyramid, is that it is driving poverty alleviation as well because the number of people who would not have dreamt of doing certain types of business have been enabled to do that.”
