M-Pesa targets 30pc growth

Safaricom has announced that it plans to increase usage of Lipa Na M-Pesa by 30 per cent this year, as it steps up its plans to grow cashless transaction space. The plan will be executed through targeted incentive-based campaigns as well as by recruiting new merchants- among them supermarkets and petrol stations, with a view to entrenching Lipa Na M-Pesa payment mode across the country. “Statistics released last week by the Central Bank of Kenya showed that between January and June this year, transactions valued at an average of Sh7.29 billion were done through mobile phones daily- which is a 17.77 per cent increase,” said Rita Okuthe, General Manager Safaricom Business. Speaking at the launch of a consumer promotion for customers who pay using Lipa Na M-esa at Naivas Supermarkets Okuthe said, “These impressive statistics coupled by the new and more robust M-Pesa technology platform are among the advances that will grow the cashless transaction space in Kenya.”