In the quarter ended in June, these growth vectors, lending and savings products, contributed almost 60% of the growth of M-Pesa.
M-Pesa, jointly owned by Vodacom Group and Safaricom, is the continent’s most successful mobile money platform, analysts say.
The M-Pesa service is now a key revenue stream for both companies.
M-PESA provides more than 51 million customers across seven countries in Africa with mobile money services.
On Friday, Vodacom Group said M-Pesa revenue continues to grow, which it said is consistent with its commitment to financial inclusion.
M-Pesa revenue grew 34.4% to $106 million (R1.9 billion), supported by customer growth and new service adoption, such as facilitating lending.
Vodacom Group CEO, Shameel Joosub, said: “We added 400 000 M-Pesa customers in the quarter, with penetration of our one-month active base at 45.0%. New growth areas such as lending and savings products continue to gain traction, contributing almost 60% of the growth in the quarter.
“We facilitated loans of R4.3 billion in the quarter, more than doubling year-on-year, and supported by products such as ‘Songesha’ in Tanzania and ‘Txuna’ in Mozambique.”
He added: “M-Pesa transaction values processed on our platform over the last twelve months, including Safaricom, were $360.6 billion, up 5.8%.”
In his market update, Joosub said revenue from new services – financial and digital services, fixed and internet of things – accounts for almost one-fifth of the group’s total revenue and is well on track to reach the target contribution of 25% to 30% over the medium-term.
He commented: “Financial services remains a clear strategic priority for the group and produced a 46.2% increase in revenue to surpass the R3 billion mark in a quarter for the first time. This was supported by a strong performance in South Africa and M-Pesa, which remains Africa’s largest mobile money platform by transaction value, and its new services in particular, such as loans and merchant services.
