This archive report was first published on 25 December 2019.
Mobile Money Deals Drop as Equitel Excluded from Data ¶
According to a recent report by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), mobile money transactions dropped 20% in the first quarter of the 2019/2020 financial year. The value of mobile money transactions stood at Sh1.7 trillion for the period between July to September.
The drop in the overall value and number of transactions was attributed to the exclusion of Equity's Finserve from the data due to reclassification. This led to a drop in the number of mobile money subscriptions, number and value of transactions as well as indicators on mobile commerce transactions.
As a result, Safaricom's M-Pesa gained a 99.9% share of the mobile money market, with Airtel Money and Telkom Kenya's T-Kash taking up the rest. At the same time, broadband service provider Wananchi Online, which has traditionally led the market with its Zuku service, has lost the market lead to Safaricom.
According to CA, Safaricom had 154,603 subscribers in the first quarter of 2019/2020, accounting for 34% of the market, against Zuku's 151,584 with 33% of the market. Telkom Kenya registered a 16% drop in mobile subscribers with the telco's 4.2 million subscribers accounting for 3.1% of the market.
CA recently released new guidelines for telecommunication service providers on the sale and registration of SIM cards. The guidelines, currently open for public participation, include requirements for registration agents to be licensed by the authority before they can sell or register the cards.
“Telecommunications operators shall ensure that they engage the services of authorised or licensed registration agents with a valid compliance certificate issued by the authority,” the draft guidelines say.
