Airtel Money is encroaching on M-PESA's market leadership in Kenya, increasing its market share to 7.6%.

Airtel Kenya's mobile money platform, Airtel Money, saw its market share jump from 2.9% to 7.6% by September 2024. This surge was driven by free transfers between Airtel users, lower fees compared to Safaricom’s M-PESA for cross-network transactions, and reduced withdrawal costs.

During the same timeframe, M-PESA's market share dropped from 97.0% to 92.3%, as Airtel Money gradually chipped away at its stronghold, even reaching a point where it held 98% of the market, according to data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).

With more than 40 million mobile money users in Kenya, cost-effectiveness has become a crucial factor for people when deciding how to handle their transactions. The CA reported that subscriptions to mobile money services rose from 39.8 million to 40.6 million, resulting in a penetration rate of 78.9% during this period.

In 2020, Airtel Money removed fees for Airtel-to-Airtel transfers to boost its market presence. Sending KES 1,000 ($7.7) to other networks costs KES 11 on Airtel Money, while M-PESA charges KES 13 ($0.093). For withdrawals, Airtel Money charges KES 29 ($0.22), which is KES 2 less than M-PESA.

To tackle previous issues regarding its limited agent network, Airtel Money has expanded its access points. In 2024, it teamed up with supermarket chain Naivas to enhance its agent network.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has advocated for complete mobile money interoperability to allow seamless transactions across different networks.

While there have been advancements—customers can now send money between networks and make interoperable utility and business payments—agent interoperability is still not in place, despite the CBK's commitment to implement it by 2024. This gap, which would enable users to access services at any agent regardless of their provider, keeps the ecosystem from being fully functional and allows larger players like M-PESA to maintain their dominance.

As of September 2024, the total mobile money agency network had expanded to over 365,000 agents, up from 347,700.

Airtel Money is getting a boost thanks to CBK's 2024 move to raise the daily transaction limit from KES 300,000 ($2,322) to KES 500,000 ($3,870). This change is aimed at bringing in more high-value customers and businesses. Plus, customers can now hold onto funds received from other wallets for more than a week, so they don’t have to rush to withdraw or send the money back to the sender anymore.