Airtel Money Gains Ground as M-PESA Faces Fifth Consecutive Market Share Decline
2 min read
For the fifth straight quarter, M-PESA’s dominance in Kenya’s mobile money sector has continued to erode, driven by increasing competition from Airtel Money and greater interoperability within the industry.
According to data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), M-PESA’s market share dropped by 2.3 percentage points to 91% in Q4 2024, while Airtel Money climbed from 7.6% to 8.9% over the same period. This shift highlights a changing competitive landscape as customers explore alternative mobile payment options.
Airtel Money’s aggressive promotional strategies—such as transaction fee refunds as airtime and lower transaction costs—have made it an attractive alternative for consumers. Sending KES 1,000 ($7.7) to other networks costs KES 11 ($0.085) on Airtel Money, compared to M-PESA’s KES 13 ($0.093), while withdrawing the same amount is KES 2 cheaper on Airtel Money.
Additionally, Airtel Money has expanded its agent network by partnering with major retailers like Naivas to offer more deposit and withdrawal points. M-PESA, however, still maintains a strong lead with over 160,000 agents nationwide.
Despite the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) pledging to implement agent interoperability by 2024—allowing mobile money customers to use any agent regardless of provider—the initiative remains stalled. Meanwhile, the CBK’s planned Fast Payment System (FPS), which will enable seamless transactions between banks and mobile wallets, could further disrupt M-PESA’s dominance in the near future.
M-PESA remains the market leader with over 34 million users and an estimated KES 40 trillion ($308.8 million) in transactions, but with Airtel Money continuing to gain traction, Kenya’s mobile money sector may be on the brink of a major shift.
About The Author
