The latest data released today shows that the value of Vodacom’s mobile money platform, M-PESA, including Safaricom, continues to scale at an impressive rate with transaction values up 16.1% to exceed R430 billion per month.
Vodacom said M-PESA revenue for International business rose 12.9% to R1.3 billion, with normalised revenue growth at 9.3%.
“The result was supported by customer growth and new service adoption, such as lending,” said Shameel Joosub, Vodacom’CEO.
M-PESA customers increased 4.5% to 16.7 million, promoting financial inclusion.
The company added that the lending products continue to scale across the portfolio, supported by M-PESA Africa’s strategic direction.
In Tanzania, Vodacom’s lending product ‘Songesha’ grew 21.3%, equivalent to R0.9 billion in loans disbursed during the quarter.
Monthly M-PESA transaction values processed on our platform, including Safaricom, was $28.2 billion, up 16.1%. However, the strong growth fundamentals of M-PESA were impacted by the introduction of mobile money levies in Tanzania. Vodacom said adjusting for this impact, M-Pesa revenue was up 31%.
Furthermore, Vodacom reported that its super app VodaPay had attracted more than 1 million registered users in three months.
“In South Africa, the launch of our VodaPay super-app in October last year has exceeded our expectations by attracting 1.4 million downloads and 1.0 million registered users in its first three months,” said Joosub.
“We see VodaPay as a precursor to M-Pesa’s evolution and further strengthening our FinTech position across our footprint…and assisting us in connecting the next 100 million African customers so that no one is left behind.”
