(Nairobi) – Safaricom’s Pochi la Biashara, a business-focused mobile wallet, has seen rapid growth in its use among Kenyan businesses, with the number of tills more than doubling to 869,020 in the six months leading up to September 2024, compared to 405,200 tills in September of the previous year.
The total value of transactions through Pochi la Biashara rose significantly, increasing by 226.6% to reach KSh 78.52 billion for the half-year period. This rise in usage also drove the revenue generated by Pochi la Biashara to KSh 0.9 billion, up from KSh 0.3 billion in 2023. Additionally, transaction volumes through the platform grew by 253%, reaching 557.6 million transactions compared to 157.9 million during the same period in the previous year. These revenues accounted for 3.4% of Safaricom’s business payments segment.
Launched in 2020, Pochi la Biashara provides a dedicated business wallet to M-Pesa-registered customers with informal businesses, enabling them to manage business funds separately from personal funds. This service has become especially attractive to small business owners due to its “no reversal without consent” feature, which protects merchants from unauthorized transaction reversals, a common risk with standard M-Pesa wallet transactions.
In contrast, Safaricom’s Lipa na M-Pesa service, which allows customers to make mobile payments at retail points, showed minimal growth in the number of active tills. The number of Lipa na M-Pesa tills reached 658,700 by September 2024, marking only a slight increase from 658,400 in September 2023.
The M-Pesa Visa card, another Safaricom service, saw its customer base grow by 106%, reaching 172,900 active users. However, the total value of transactions on the M-Pesa Visa card declined from KSh 6.2 billion in 2023 to KSh 4 billion over the same period this year.
Data from the Central Bank of Kenya indicates that approximately 68% of Kenyans currently use mobile money for transactions, reflecting a shift toward cashless payment solutions across the country. Mobile money services like M-Pesa remain a vital part of Safaricom’s business, with M-Pesa transactions making up 43.5% of the company’s service revenue as highlighted in its latest half-year financial results.