Airtel Kenya has announced a new offer for its Airtel Money subscribers that will allow calls to any network at KSh2 per minute.
However, the company said subscribers must spend KSh100 (US$1.14) or more on sending and receiving money, paying bills including water, travel, DStv or bank transactions through Airtel Money to enjoy the new rate.
Shivan Bhargava, managing director (MD) at Airtel Kenya, said: “This new rate will reward our Airtel Money customers with affordable calls to all networks besides our current offer for that enables Airtel Money customers to send money to any network in Kenya for free.”
Airtel said the new tariff, which will run for seven days, is part of the company’s commitment to deepening financial inclusion, accessibility and affordability of its products and services to Kenyans.
The move is seen as a strategy to counter Safaricom’s dominance in the mobile money market, with the M-Pesa platform controlling more than 68 per cent of the market.
Bhargava added the company will also put emphasis on the education of its customers on the benefits of using Airtel Money.
Airtel Money has more than 10,000 agents countrywide with the number expected to grow to 15,000 by the end of the year.
According to a recent report by GSMA mobile for development, 31 per cent of Kenya’s GDP is transacted through mobile money, with users standing at 23 million, representing 74 per cent of the entire adult population.
Safaricom currently controls the bulk of the KSh142 billion (US$1.6 billion) monthly transactions on the platform with its 96,319 agents countywide.
