Kenya
Payments

Kenya combines M-Pesa mobile-money acceptance, bank transfers through PesaLink and other bank channels, and cards. For a merchant, the practical distinction is how the customer pays and where the merchant receives usable funds. Customer-account, active-user, merchant and group transaction-value figures measure different things and should not be combined into one reach estimate.

The South Africa comparison illustrates different banking, distribution and competitive conditions. It is not a controlled experiment proving a single cause of success or failure. Evaluate the actual customer need and merchant channel rather than assuming a telco-led model transfers unchanged between countries.

M-Pesa — the canonical mobile money operator

M-Pesa is operated by Safaricom, Kenya's largest telco (Vodacom-affiliated; Vodafone group). The product launched in March 2007 as a P2P mobile money transfer service and has expanded into a comprehensive financial services platform:

• P2P transfers — send money to any phone number; near-instant settlement
• Lipa Na M-Pesa — merchant payments; consumers pay via M-Pesa till numbers or paybill numbers; merchants receive funds in their M-Pesa account
• M-Shwari / KCB M-Pesa — savings and microloan products built on the M-Pesa platform via partnerships with banks
• M-Pesa Global — international remittance corridor
• B2C disbursements — payroll, insurance payouts, gig worker payments
• Agent network — cash-in/cash-out via hundreds of thousands of M-Pesa agents (small shops, kiosks, dedicated outlets) across Kenya

The merchant economy: distinguish a Business Till collection from Paybill, B2C payout or a consumer transfer. Their charges and reconciliation records differ. Match the proposed integration to the tariff and receiving account in the merchant agreement.

For operators: Safaricom's Daraja documentation describes merchant integrations and sandbox testing. Technical access is separate from production onboarding and regulatory scope. A merchant accepting its own payments and an intermediary holding or transferring funds for others need different assessments; confirm both provider terms and any CBK authorisation obligations.

PesaLink — bank-to-bank instant payments

PesaLink is a bank-transfer service operated by IPSL. Confirm participating institutions and current integration arrangements with the provider. Bank-account receipt and M-Pesa wallet receipt are different products; the existence of bank-to-wallet services does not prove every PesaLink integration can debit or credit every wallet.

For a business payment, specify the recipient account, supported amount, confirmation and reconciliation record. Compare the bank/provider product against the required use case rather than assuming M-Pesa alone is sufficient for all consumer checkout or that PesaLink automatically covers every payroll or B2B scenario.

KEPSS — RTGS

KEPSS (Kenya Electronic Payment and Settlement System) is the CBK-operated RTGS for high-value interbank settlement. KEPSS handles wholesale settlement and large-value clearing — the layer below PesaLink. For operators, KEPSS rarely matters for retail/SME flows but is relevant for high-value B2B settlement above PesaLink limits.

Cards alongside mobile money

This guide does not establish a current national card-ownership or card-payment share. Older debit- and credit-card ownership measures have different denominators and cannot be averaged into one penetration figure. Visa and Mastercard card acceptance is available, but merchants should judge it by their customer mix and acquirer offer.

Card acceptance alongside mobile money: compare card acquiring and M-Pesa on the same customer, channel and transaction profile. Safaricom's official Business Till PDFs show differing percentage schedules. Confirm the current terms on the merchant account rather than treating either PDF or a calculated cap threshold as universal. Paybill, collection, transfer and withdrawal charges are separate products.

For foreign-issued cards (international consumers paying Kenyan merchants), ask the acquirer about acceptance, settlement currency and cross-border fees. A national merchant-method mix is not established here.

E-commerce — M-Pesa, COD, and cards

Kenyan online merchants may offer M-Pesa, cards, bank transfer and cash-on-delivery depending on the product and customer. This guide does not establish a current national e-commerce payment-method split; broader mobile-money usage surveys do not measure online checkout shares.

For operators entering Kenyan e-commerce, test M-Pesa via a PSP or Daraja where appropriate, cards for customers who need them, and cash-on-delivery only where operationally suitable. Check customer demand, payment confirmation, settlement, refunds and current provider terms before setting an integration order.

The M-Pesa spinoff debate

Corporate-structure proposals should be distinguished from an implemented change to the merchant's counterparty or terms. A reported spinoff discussion does not establish that a customer's contract, fees or licence has already changed.

For an integration decision, check the current Safaricom agreement and official corporate/regulatory notices. Record the contracting entity and notification provisions, and revisit them if a relevant change is formally announced rather than predicting whether an integration will break.

Other mobile money — Airtel Money and T-Kash

Two smaller mobile money operators compete with M-Pesa:

• Airtel Money Kenya (Airtel Africa group): A clear second, and no longer a rounding error. Its share of registered mobile-money subscriptions rose from roughly 3% in 2022 to 9.1% in early 2025 and 10.3% in the quarter to September 2025 — its first double-digit reading.
• T-Kash (Telkom Kenya): Smaller still; struggled to gain meaningful traction.

M-Pesa remains dominant, but the widely repeated framing of a static near-monopoly with low-single-digit challengers is out of date. On Communications Authority and CBK quarterly subscription data, M-Pesa's share fell from roughly 95% in 2023 to just under 90% across 2025 — reported as a fifth consecutive quarterly decline — while Airtel Money crossed 10%. Network effects and the agent footprint still favour M-Pesa decisively, and nothing here suggests displacement; but the gap is narrowing rather than fixed, and an operator modelling Kenya on a 95/5 split is modelling a market that no longer exists. Note the denominator: these are shares of registered subscriptions, which run well ahead of active use.

Regulator and licensing — Central Bank of Kenya

CBK's National Payment System framework and 2014 Regulations govern PSP authorisation, including electronic-money activities. The legal service matters more than whether a brand calls itself a wallet, gateway or mobile-money operator.

Before launch, identify whether the business accepts payment for its own goods, provides payment services to others, issues stored value or supplies a different regulated product. Apply the relevant requirements to the actual entity. A Daraja sandbox account or a contract with a PSP does not transfer that provider's regulatory permission.

Request the current register entry, authorised activity, onboarding conditions and funds-flow diagram from the counterparty. No standard licensing duration is established here. Credit and cross-border remittance services require their own scope review.

PSP coverage

Pesapal, DPO, Cellulant, iPay, Flutterwave and Paystack are starting points for provider research, alongside direct Safaricom merchant integration. Confirm each legal entity's current authorisation, product and merchant eligibility rather than interpreting the list as a recommendation or ranking.

Stripe lists Kenya as an Extended network market, linking to Paystack. That is different from a claim of direct local Stripe acquiring or identical Stripe account features.

Test a collection and a payout separately

For a hypothetical invoice, record the order reference and expected amount, then verify the authenticated provider receipt, destination account and availability of funds. Run a separate authorised test of any payout/refund. Successful collection does not establish that the merchant has a B2C disbursement product or that a refund follows the same route.

Compare these five fields in each proposal: contracting entity, payment method, account receiving the collection, payout/refund authority and total fees. See the M-Pesa interoperability briefing for cross-market context; it is not proof that one integration reaches every country.