The Central Bank of Kenya, on Monday, said mobile money use in the country hit a historic high after users moved Shs6.24 trillion shillings — about $55.1 billion — on phones between January and November 2021.
The central bank, in its new data, said the figure surpassed the $45.9 billion moved by mobile money users between the period under review in 2020.
The surge in transactions came even though the government removed COVID-19 subsidies at the start of 2021.
When the pandemic erupted in the nation in March 2020, the government decided to make all mobile money transactions and bank transfers worth less than $8.83 free.
CBK says that this led to an increase in cashless transactions and eight million subscribers joining the service.
Upon removing the subsidies, CBK was expecting usage to decline or slow down, however, the opposite has happened.
In the 11 months, the highest mobile money transaction in a single month was recorded in November at $5.5 billion, with 299,053 agents and 67 million subscriptions, according to the CBK.