Digital Payments in Kenya grow beyond pandemic-led push, reports Cellulant

By Edlyn Cardoza

The growth witnessed in Kenya is reflective of the payments landscape in the rest of Africa, reports Cellulant, with a noted shift in consumer behaviour. Digital payments have shifted from being a nice-to-have for businesses to a necessity as more consumers prefer digital platforms as their primary payment method. 

According to Faith Nkatha, the Country Manager for Cellulant in Kenya, who made the remarks at the opening ceremony of this year’s Social Media Week in Nairobi. From 16th to 19th November 2021 at Movenpick Hotel, the event is themed “Re-invention: Re-imagining Digital and Technology for a better tomorrow”, bringing together industry leaders to discuss trends in the market.

Speaking to trends in digital payments pre and post-COVID, Faith said, “In 2019, Cellulant processed $5.7 billion worth of payments in Kenya alone. In 2020, accelerated by the COVID- pandemic, we saw a 40% increase, and we’re looking at a 50% projected to increase by the close of 2021.” 

The growth witnessed in Kenya is reflective of the payments landscape in the rest of Africa, reports Cellulant, with a notable shift in consumer behaviour. At the onset, consumers were looking for different digital payment options as physical stores were closed and when they opened, such methods provided safer ways to make payments to curb the spread of COVID-19. 

However, that is no longer the case today. We’re witnessing a shift in customer behaviour and reinforcing the adoption of digital payments across different business verticals, as posited by Kenya’s Country Manager at Cellulant. 

“As more of our merchant customers’ prefer digital payments, we’re innovating new payment frameworks and growing our partnerships in response to this growing demand,” added Faith Nkatha Gitonga. “We’re definitely seeing more of our customers from airlines, e-commerce companies, ride-hailing companies, online travel agencies, utilities and telecoms asking for more platform-style digital products and diversity in the payment method they offer to their customers.” 

For Cellulant, growth in the payments technology space goes beyond the convenience of making and receiving payments. The resultant effects of the security and convenience afforded by digital payments are critical to financial inclusion and economic empowerment for millions of people across Africa, enabling them to take the reins of development that will transform the continent. 

Cellulant is a leading Pan African payments company that provides locally relevant and alternative payment methods for global, regional and local merchants. Cellulant provides a single-contract payments platform that enables businesses to collect payments online and offline while allowing anyone to pay from their mobile money, local and international cards or directly from their bank. 

Today, Cellulant has an office presence in 18 African countries with a payments platform connecting thousands of businesses with 154 payment options across 35 countries. The platform powers payments for 220 million consumers on a single inclusive network allowing for interoperability across Africa. 

Recently, IBS Intelligence reported that Jambojet has partnered with Cellulant, a leading Pan-African payments company, to reward Jambojet customers with discount vouchers as they book flights ahead of the festive season.