M-PESA Kadogo’s zero-rated transactions have reached a major milestone, hitting 17.1 billion transactions in the 2025/2026 financial year and accounting for 58% of all activity on Safaricom’s mobile money platform.
The surge underscores how deeply low-value, everyday digital payments have become embedded in Kenya’s economy, driven by Safaricom’s decision to zero-rate small transactions under the M-PESA Kadogo initiative. The policy covers person-to-person transfers between KES 1 and KES 100, Lipa na M-PESA payments below KES 200, cash deposits at agent outlets, and airtime purchases via M-PESA.
In total, M-PESA processed 46.4 billion transactions valued at KES 41.7 trillion during the year, reinforcing its position as the backbone of Kenya’s digital financial ecosystem.
Safaricom says the removal of charges on small-value transactions—first introduced during the COVID-19 period and later sustained—has significantly reduced friction in everyday payments. Since 2020, transaction volumes have tripled as users increasingly rely on low-value digital transfers.
“With M-PESA Kadogo, our purpose is to make digital payments affordable for small-scale daily purchases and deepen financial inclusion,” said Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa. “The removal of transaction fees has reduced friction and accelerated the usage of M-PESA across the country.”
Despite the large share of zero-rated activity, M-PESA continues to deliver strong financial performance. The platform recorded a 13.4% increase in revenue to KES 182.7 billion, driven by growth across consumer payments, business payments, and international transactions.
Consumer payments remained the largest contributor at KES 74.5 billion, followed by business payments at KES 56.7 billion, reflecting M-PESA’s evolution from a basic money transfer service into a broader financial ecosystem.
A key growth highlight was Pochi la Biashara, which serves small businesses. Its user base grew from 600,000 in FY2024 to 2.2 million in FY2026, while revenue rose from KES 800 million to KES 4 billion over the same period. The product now also allows users to invest idle balances in Ziidi Money Market Fund, extending M-PESA’s reach into savings and investments.
Safaricom says the sustained growth of M-PESA reflects increasing adoption of digital financial services and its ongoing mission to expand financial inclusion and economic participation across Kenya.