Airtel has launched a product to rival Safaricom’s Pochi la Biashara, intensifying competition in a market where the cost of customer transfers into micro-business wallets has now fallen to zero.
Airtel Money’s new Bizna Wallet is aimed at competing in the same market segment as Safaricom’s M-Pesa Pochi la Biashara, a low-cost tool built to give small-scale traders a simplified digital payment solution. Customers paying for goods through Airtel’s wallet will not be charged a fee, as the telco pushes to grow its merchant base and increase adoption of its mobile money platform.
Safaricom responded within days. On Saturday, it lowered its tariffs for payments to business tills and paybills, as well as for Pochi la Biashara itself, where transactions of less than Sh200 are now free, down from Sh100 previously.
The move highlights the growing competition for Kenya’s merchant payments market, where mobile money remains a key revenue driver for telecom operators.
M-Pesa remains Safaricom’s largest revenue stream, and Airtel, which has long trailed its dominant rival, is relying on mobile money and fixed data growth to strengthen its path to sustained profitability.
Airtel Money Kenya’s Acting Managing Director, Michael Bonke, said the free transfers were designed to accelerate adoption of the new wallet. “We expect this to be a very instrumental tool for our merchants. Of course, with the free payment to the business wallet, this will be a key driver of customers paying into this business wallet,” he said. He added that the move responded directly to customer demand: “Free payments to businesses have been one of our customers’ requests. We listen to the market, and if there is any other product needed, we will do it.”
Beyond the new wallet, Airtel Money has also halved the cost of a range of other mobile money transactions, including paybill payments, transfers to rival mobile money networks, bank-to-wallet transfers, and wallet-to-bank transfers. Rather than cutting prices outright, the telco is implementing the reduction through a 50 per cent cash-back arrangement.
Safaricom’s own figures help explain why it moved quickly to respond to increased competition in the segment. Revenue from M-Pesa Pochi, launched in 2020, reached Sh4 billion in the year to March, while paybill and till transactions generated a further Sh9.3 billion, taking combined merchant-related earnings to Sh13.3 billion.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Safaricom framed the price cuts as a move to support small business growth: “To make digital payments more affordable and support the growth of businesses across Kenya, Safaricom is introducing revised tariffs for Pochi la Biashara and Lipa na M-Pesa Buy-Goods.”
The revised tariffs take effect from August 7 and will halve charges on M-Pesa till and paybill payments, cutting the maximum tariff from Sh108 to Sh54 for transfers of between Sh45,001 and Sh250,000. Pochi la Biashara charges have been revised for a three-month window running to October 31, with the top rate set at Sh50 for transfers between Sh2,501 and Sh250,000.
The number of merchants using Pochi la Biashara reached 2.1 million in the financial year ended March 2026, nearly double the 1.1 million recorded a year earlier. Safaricom launched Pochi to encourage micro-entrepreneurs to adopt digital financial tools, giving them a wallet, linked to their M-Pesa account, that keeps business income separate from personal funds.
It was designed specifically to solve two common merchant frustrations: the mixing of personal and business money, and disputes over reversing customer payments.
Data from the Communications Authority of Kenya points to a gradual erosion of Safaricom’s dominance across both mobile money and fixed internet as competition intensifies. Airtel’s share of mobile money subscriptions climbed to 10.9 per cent in March 2026, up from 9.1 per cent a year earlier, while Safaricom’s share has declined from its previous highs.
Bonke attributed Airtel’s growth to improving customer experience and strategic partnerships with businesses such as KCB and Naivas, which have helped expand its agency network.
“In a nutshell, I’d say what has got us here is listening to our customers and giving them the best experiences,” he said. He added: “The current number of merchants that an Airtel Money customer can pay into is about two million. This has been brought about by partnerships that we’ve had with the various banks and other industry players. In terms of distribution, partnerships have given us a foothold in the market and have been key to our growth.”
Despite rising competition from Airtel, M-Pesa has continued to grow. Safaricom’s M-Pesa revenue in Kenya rose 13.4 per cent to Sh182.7 billion, anchoring the company’s overall domestic performance even as its data, voice and messaging revenues have declined.
