Safaricom PLC continues to deepen its reliance on mobile financial services, with M-PESA now contributing nearly half of the Group’s service revenue.
According to the telco’s FY26 results, M-PESA accounted for 44.1% of total service revenue. The fintech generated KES 182.7 billion, up 13.4% from KES 161.2 billion recorded in the previous year, driven by growth in customers numbers.
During the review period, the total value of transactions rose by 8.9% to KES 41.68 trillion, while transaction volumes reached 46.4 billion, up sharply by 25.1% relative to the previous year. The growth in both transaction value and volume reflects increasing usage of the platform, supported by wider adoption and expanded use cases.
Business payments and consumer payments led in transaction value, recording KES 21.6 trillion and KES 9.3 trillion, respectively, underscoring the significant role played by the payment platform as merchants increasingly shift to digital payment solutions.
The merchant base expanded 72% to 3.2 million from 1.86 million in the previous year. Lipa na M-PESA active merchants increased by 56.7% to 1.1 million, while Pochi la Biashara tills reached 2.1 million, up 81.5% year-on-year. One-month active customers grew 18.0% to 43.7 million, from 37.0 million.
M-PESA Gains Momentum in Ethiopia Despite Competition
In Ethiopia, M-PESA recorded robust growth despite stiff competition from Telebirr, the country’s dominant mobile money platform. The value of transactions rose by 38.8% to KES 28.6 billion, while transaction volumes surged 168.7% to 442 million. Total one-month active M-PESA merchants more than doubled to 70,045. Meanwhile, the platform’s revenue grew by 13.4% to KES 14.4 billion from KES 12.5 billion.
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