Vodafone, a U.K. based telecommunications services provider, has announced that its M-Pesa mobile money service now has more than 25 million active customers. The user base for the service - that enables customers with limited access to bank accounts to send and receive money or pay bills - expanded by 27.1 percent in the last 12 months, driven by launches in Albania, Romania and Ghana.
Michael Joseph, director of mobile money at Vodafone said, "I am delighted and proud that M-Pesa has reached the 25 million active customers milestone."
"M-Pesa continues to expand, evolving beyond traditional money transfers to encompass savings and loans, payments of salaries and benefits, settlement of utility bills and school fees and to enable vital health and agricultural solutions," he further added.
Vodafone's 40 percent-owned Vodacom generated first-half revenues of R722m from M-pesa, which accounted for 38.7 percent of its international data revenue. Recent research from analysts at Barclays found the global payment market looked set to double by 2023, with African telecom operators monetizing this theme through mobile money.
Vodafone partnered with South Africa-based MTN to enable M-Pesa users and MTN Mobile Money users to transfer funds between each other. In November 2015, Vodafone signed a framework agreement with African remittance hub MFS. It struck a similar deal in February this year with TransferTo.
"M-Pesa has enhanced the lives and livelihoods of people without bank accounts, giving them access to essential financial services through their mobile phones," Joseph said.
M-Pesa is now available in 11 countries. In the past year, Vodafone M-Pesa has also enabled international remittance services for customers in Albania, Lesotho, and Romania.