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Wallets/m-pesa

M-Pesa

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Overview

M-Pesa is Africa's largest mobile-money service + the world's foundational mobile-money platform — launched March 2007 by Safaricom in Kenya + now operated by the M-Pesa Africa joint venture between Vodacom + Safaricom [1, 2, ke-cro]. By financial year ending 31 March 2024, M-Pesa reached 66.2+ million customers across 7 African markets. The system processes 21 billion transactions annually with 100+ million daily transactions in Kenya alone. The September 22, 2025 platform upgrade affected 50+ million M-Pesa customers across Africa, illustrating continental scale.

History

March 2007 — Launched in Kenya by Safaricom [2]: Originally developed with DFID funding as a microfinance loan-repayment tool; evolved into general-purpose mobile money.

2008-2015 — Pan-African expansion [2]: Tanzania, Mozambique, DRC, Lesotho, Egypt, Ghana.

2020 — Vodacom + Safaricom form joint venture (M-Pesa Africa) [2]: Consolidates operations across the group.

2024 — 66.2M customers (FY24 end-March) [3]: Continental scale.

September 22, 2025 — Major platform upgrade [4]: Affects 50+ million customers; modernises core processing.

December 2025 — reported Vodacom move to raise its Safaricom stake [5]: ~KES 245 billion share-purchase deal subject to ~9 regulatory conditions, potentially reshaping M-Pesa's ultimate parent structure.

September 2025 — Kenya service revenue +9.3% YoY, M-Pesa revenue +14% [1]: Continued growth.

Ownership & operator

Operating entity: M-Pesa Africa — joint venture between Vodacom Group + Safaricom (since 2020).

Ultimate parent (post-Dec 2025): Vodacom Group (controlling Safaricom via KES 245B share-purchase).

Vodafone Group: Historical sponsor + technology partner; Vodacom is Vodafone's African subsidiary.

Regulator (Kenya): Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) + Communications Authority of Kenya for telecom side.

Technology partner: Huawei — M-Pesa core runs on Huawei Cloud, processing 21 billion transactions yearly.

Technical integration

M-Pesa is MNO mobile money with USSD + smartphone-app dual access [1, 2]:

Layer Description
Channels USSD (*334# Kenya) + M-Pesa app + SMS
Identifiers Phone number, Paybill (business shortcode), Till Number (merchant shortcode)
Authentication M-Pesa PIN + biometrics in app
Settlement Real-time within M-Pesa; integrations with PesaLink for inter-bank
QR support Lipa Na M-Pesa Buy Goods (merchant QR)
Channels external M-Pesa GlobalPay (cross-border), M-Pesa Lending, M-Pesa Insurance

Users & growth

Pan-African (FY24 + 2025 data) [2, 3, 4]:

  • Total customers (FY24): 66.2 million
  • September 22, 2025 platform upgrade affected: 50+ million customers
  • Annual transaction count: 21+ billion
  • Daily transactions (Kenya alone): 100+ million
  • Kenya service revenue growth (H1 FY26): +9.3% YoY
  • M-Pesa revenue growth (H1 FY26): +14% YoY
  • Global mobile-money transaction value (2025): $2+ trillion (doubled since 2021; M-Pesa is leading contributor)

Use cases

P2P transfers [1]: Cardinal — phone-number-addressed instant.

Lipa Na M-Pesa merchant payments KE: Paybill + Till Number + QR for businesses.

Bill payment [1]: Utilities, government services, school fees.

M-Shwari savings + loans KE: Bank-partner microcredit + interest-bearing savings.

Salary payments [1]: Employer payroll directly to M-Pesa wallets.

Cross-border remittances (M-Pesa GlobalPay) [1]: International transfers.

International airtime top-up + utility payments [1]: Cross-MNO.

M-Pesa Lending / KCB M-Pesa / Fuliza KE: Credit products.

Implementations & partners

Operating partners: Vodacom Group + Safaricom + Vodafone Group.

Cloud infrastructure: Huawei Cloud (M-Pesa core).

Bank partners (Kenya): KCB, NCBA (KCB M-Pesa, Fuliza), Equity Bank, Co-op Bank for various co-branded products.

Card-network partner: Visa — M-Pesa GlobalPay virtual card.

Regulators: CBK (Kenya), Tanzania BOT, Mozambique Bank of Mozambique, DRC Central Bank, Lesotho Central Bank, Egypt CBE, Ghana BoG.

Inter-bank rail: PesaLink (Kenya Bankers Association).

Fun facts

  • Launched March 2007 with DFID funding as a microfinance experiment; evolved into the world's reference mobile-money product.
  • "M-Pesa" combines "M" for mobile + "Pesa" Swahili for money.
  • 66.2M customers (FY24): One of the largest single-platform user bases in African digital services.
  • 100M+ daily transactions in Kenya alone: Per-capita transaction rate among the highest globally.
  • Huawei Cloud-powered core: 21B annual transactions on Chinese-hypercloud infrastructure.
  • December 2025 Vodacom-Safaricom share deal: Major ownership restructuring, KES 245B (~$1.9B).
  • Vodacom + Safaricom joint venture (M-Pesa Africa, 2020): Consolidated pan-African operations into single entity.
  • Inspired the entire MNO-mobile-money category globally: Orange Money, MTN MoMo, Airtel Money — all post-M-Pesa.

Comparison

Feature M-Pesa MTN MoMo (group) Orange Money (group) Airtel Money (group) wave-qr (WAEMU disruptor)
Operator Vodacom + Safaricom JV MTN Group Orange Group Airtel Africa Wave (independent fintech)
Country footprint 7 (KE+TZ+MZ+CD+LS+EG+GH) 14 16+ 14 8 WAEMU
Customers (latest) 66.2M (FY24) 72.5M 40M (group total) 54.1M 20M+
Annual transactions 21B n/a (high) n/a $210B+ value n/a
Distinctive Reference mobile-money product MoMoPay merchant QR French heritage West Africa Mastercard partnership 1% flat fee disruption

Status

Active, foundational [1, 2, 3, 4]:

  • Operator: M-Pesa Africa JV (Vodacom + Safaricom) since 2020.
  • Vodacom now controls Safaricom post-December 2025 KES 245B deal.
  • 66.2M customers (FY24) across 7 African markets.
  • September 22, 2025 platform upgrade completed.

Sources

Source

Biography extracted from m-pesa.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.

source · docs/wallets/m-pesa/index.md