Kenya’s mobile money market is still growing, but the agents who built it are disappearing. Figures from the Communications Authority of Kenya, analysed by TechCabal, show the number of registered agents fell from 602,470 to 568,463 between March and June 2026, a drop of about 34,000 (5.6%) in just three months.
Over the same period, mobile money subscriptions rose 1.2% to 54.01 million, and were up 13.2% on a year earlier.
Why agents are losing out
Agents earn commission mainly when customers deposit or withdraw cash. More Kenyans now keep their money digital and pay directly from their phones using:
- Buy Goods tills, merchant numbers for paying shops and kiosks from M-PESA or Airtel Money
- Pochi la Biashara, M-PESA’s business wallet for small traders
- PayBill numbers for school fees, insurance and utility bills
- Bank-to-wallet transfers that remove the need to cash out
None of these pay the agent anything. At the same time, running a shop has become more expensive. Agents quoted by TechCabal said monthly commission can be as low as KES 11,000 (about $85), while rent, attendants’ wages and business permits have all risen. One said permit costs are up 30%.
Smartphones speed up the shift
Kenya had 52.26 million smartphone connections by June, up from 50.18 million in March, while feature phones fell to 27.42 million. More smartphones mean more app banking, QR payments and direct merchant checkout.
Safaricom holds 88.8% of mobile money subscriptions and Airtel Money 11.1%. Both still rely on agents to sign up new users, manage cash liquidity and serve rural areas, so they will need to find new ways for agents to earn beyond cash-in and cash-out.
The lesson for Nigeria
Nigeria’s POS agent network, run by Moniepoint, OPay, PalmPay and others, is built on the same cash-in, cash-out model. As transfers and merchant payments grow here, Kenya’s experience suggests agent businesses will need to add services such as bill payments, savings, loans and deliveries to stay profitable.
Source: TechCabal, using data from the Communications Authority of Kenya.
