Safaricom Pivots M-PESA Into Credit, Invoicing and Business Finance for 4.5 Million Merchants
Safaricom has signalled a strategic expansion of M-PESA beyond payments into credit, invoicing and business finance products targeting its 4.5 million merchant base. The company's My OneApp super-app has reached 4.5 million monthly users and processed KSh2 trillion in transactions, underpinning the merchant-finance push.
M-PESA Merchants: 4.5 million businesses, one platform, and a very big question about who else wants that data
Merchant numbers up 90% in a half-year. Pochi la Biashara alone at 3.2 million users, up 115%. These aren't vanity figures — they're the foundation Safaricom is now building on top of.
The pitch is straightforward: a boda boda rider or market trader already uses M-PESA to get paid, so why not let the same platform handle invoicing, reconciliation and working-capital loans? The transaction history is already there. The relationship already exists.
But that transaction history is also exactly what Kenya Revenue Authority wants access to, as discussions between KRA and Safaricom have made clear. The more useful M-PESA becomes as a business management tool, the more it becomes a live record of every small trader's income.
For merchants, the honest question is whether they're gaining a finance partner or acquiring a very well-connected bookkeeper.
2 sources
- Safaricom’s My OneApp reaches 4.5 million monthly users as legacy app migration continues · techtrendske.co.ke · T2
- Safaricom sees a bigger opportunity in helping M-PESA merchants manage and finance their businesses · techtrendske.co.ke · T2