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Safaricom abolishes charges for lower M-Pesa transactions


Safaricom has abolished charges for all M-Pesa transactions of below Sh100.

While making the announcement, CEO Bob Collymore said the move aims to further deepen the financial inclusion and in response to its customers’ feedback.

The move will affect person-to-person and Lipa Na M-Pesa transactions.

“We have done this to empower the people who support this company the most – the mama mbogas, the small businessmen and the micro agents who form our network,” said Mr Collymore.

“We shall continue to grow the adoption of savings and uptake of loans through M-PESA, and grow cashless business payments and transactions.”

The company announced a record six-month net profit of Sh23.9 billion, with most of its revenue coming from non-voice services, for the first time.

SAFARICOM REVENUES

M-Pesa transactions stood at Sh3.2 trillion between April 1 and September 30, 2016.

Safaricom’s total customer base grew by six per cent to 26.6 million while the service revenue growth of 15.4 per cent to Sh98 billion.

Voice service revenue grew by 1.1 per cent to Sh45.7 billion, messaging revenue by 8.1 per cent to Sh8.6 billion while the number of M-Pesa customers increased to 17.6 million, a 12.2 per cent increase.

M-PESA revenue increased by 33.7 per cent to Sh25.9 billion while 30-day active mobile data customers increased by 13.7 per cent to 14.9 million.

The company recorded a 46.3 per cent growth in mobile data revenue to Sh13.4 billion and fixed service revenue grew by 29.1 per cent to Sh2.4 billion.