Safaricom has added PayPal withdrawals to the M-PESA tremendous app, making it simpler for Kenyan customers, significantly freelancers and distant staff, to entry funds earned overseas. The transfer goals to seize a bigger share of Kenya’s fast-growing digital freelance financial system, the place many depend on PayPal to obtain funds from worldwide purchasers.
The brand new characteristic, launched as a mini app inside M-PESA, eliminates the necessity to use a separate internet portal to switch PayPal funds, a course of lengthy criticized for delays and clunky consumer expertise. This marks the primary time customers can withdraw instantly from PayPal by way of the app, bypassing a number of logins and browser redirects.
The characteristic enhances Fairness Financial institution’s PayPal withdrawal service, Kenya’s solely instantaneous bank-linked possibility. With M-PESA’s transaction volumes and consumer engagement at all-time highs, Safaricom is doubling down on embedding monetary instruments that deepen consumer stickiness and develop income from its cell cash platform.
The replace comes as M-PESA’s function in Safaricom’s enterprise expands. Cellular cash income for the corporate rose 15.2% year-on-year to KES 161.1 billion ($1.25 billion) within the 12 months ended March 2025, in keeping with Safaricom’s monetary statements. That development was pushed by a 20.3% rise in chargeable transactions per lively consumer, now at 37.92 month-to-month, and a ten.5% improve in one-month lively prospects, which reached 35.82 million.
Common income per M-PESA consumer grew 9.4% to KES 395.22 ($3.06), whereas the variety of brokers within the community rose 14.1% to almost 299,000, serving to Safaricom maintain broad bodily entry to cash-in and cash-out providers.
The M-PESA app has been downloaded 13.7 million instances and now helps 4.7 million prospects. In 2024, Safaricom processed KES 2.3 trillion ($17.83 billion) by way of the app.
M-PESA wallets help balances of as much as KES 500,000 ($3,875), with a single transaction cap of KSh 250,000 ($1,938) and a each day transaction restrict set at KES 500,000.
Whereas Fairness Financial institution stays the go-to possibility for bigger PayPal withdrawals—supporting as much as $10,000 per transaction—the app-based route affords a quicker, bank-free different for customers transferring smaller sums or looking for extra direct management.
Kenyan customers have additionally turned to alternate options like Sensible and Payoneer to obtain worldwide funds, citing higher FX charges and fewer restrictions. Nonetheless, PayPal stays a dominant channel, and integrating it into the M-PESA app might assist Safaricom lock in additional transaction quantity and deepen consumer engagement at a time when the cell cash market is shifting.
Mark your calendars! Moonshot by TechCabal is again in Lagos on October 15–16! Be a part of Africa’s prime founders, creatives & tech leaders for two days of keynotes, mixers & future-forward concepts. Early hen tickets now 20% off—don’t snooze! moonshot.techcabal.com
Elevate your perspective with NextTech Information, the place innovation meets perception.
Uncover the newest breakthroughs, get unique updates, and join with a worldwide community of future-focused thinkers.
Unlock tomorrow’s tendencies at present: learn extra, subscribe to our e-newsletter, and develop into a part of the NextTech neighborhood at NextTech-news.com
