What is the most popular payment method in Kenya?

M-PESA. Safaricom held 88.8% of the mobile money market in June 2026, and M-PESA processed KSh 41.68 trillion in the year to March 2026. Shoppers pay a Till or Paybill number in stores and confirm an STK push online.

Payment by digital wallet and X-Pay in Kenya

In Kenya, X-Pay means M-PESA first. Shoppers pay a Till number (Buy Goods) or a Paybill, or confirm an STK push on their phone at an online checkout. Safaricom counted 1.0 million Lipa na M-PESA merchants, 2.1 million Pochi merchants and 40.99 million one-month active M-PESA customers at the end of March 2026. Airtel Money is the only real challenger, with an 11.1% share of mobile money subscriptions in June 2026.

Mobile money against cards and banks

The Communications Authority counted 54.0 million mobile money subscriptions in June 2026, a penetration rate of 101.3%. Banks and cards play a supporting role: card payments at POS terminals reached KSh 297 billion in 2025, while mobile money moved about KSh 722 billion a month in 2025. PesaLink, the banks' instant transfer service, moved KSh 1.1 trillion in 2024.

More detail in our #PayWorldTour guide Payment methods in Kenya.