Kenyans living abroad Europe and the US, make up the bulk to WorldRemit’s mobile money users sending money home, a testament to the prevalent use of such services among those from the east African country, the biggest mobile money market in Africa.
To mark the 10th anniversary of ground-breaking mobile money service M-PESA, WorldRemit has released new data showing that mobile money transfers make up 93% of WorldRemit transactions to Kenya now – showing that Kenyans continue to be early adopters of innovative technology, even when abroad.
Low prices, speed and convenience of sending instant remittances from the app or website directly to a mobile phone in Kenya are some of the reasons why WorldRemit is so popular among Kenyans abroad.
Remittances play an important role in Kenya’s economy – inward remittances reached a record value of just under $161 million in November 2016, according to the Central Bank of Kenya, making it one of the nation’s top earners.
In January 2017 alone, WorldRemit customers transferred more than $140 million (at annualised rate) to Kenya, making WorldRemit one of the largest remittance companies serving the Kenyan diaspora.
Australia and Canada are also two popular countries from which mobile money is transferred. Globally, WorldRemit customers send more than 580 000 transfers every month to over 140 destinations.
“Kenya is famed for leading Africa’s digital transformation, and today it’s Kenyans abroad who are at the forefront of digitising international money transfers. Most of our Kenyan customers use our mobile app, demonstrating the strong demand for convenience when sending to friends and family,” said Ismail Ahmed, Founder and CEO at WorldRemit.
“With half a billion registered accounts worldwide, mobile money continues to transform lives by allowing people to access financial services for the first time. WorldRemit customers now send more than 65,000 transfers to the country every month from the WorldRemit app and website with over 90% going to M-PESA,” he said.
[image – CC by 2.0/gail]
