Pesa Link moved Sh. 8 billion in the five months to August 4 since it was launched.
The interbank money transfer platform was expected to rival telcos’ mobile money service currently dominated by Safaricom’s M-Pesa. KBA manages the switch and facilitates direct transfers without going through intermediaries such as M-Pesa, Airtel Money and Orange Money.
The platform is offered by Integrated Payment Services Ltd (IPSL), a fully-owned subsidiary of Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), and can handle person-to-person transfers from as low as Sh10 to a high of Sh999,999.
According to Jennifer Theuri, CEO of IPSL, the platform’s subscriber base has continued to grow with the number of banks adopting it rising to 28, with other unnamed banks lining up to join.
“The PesaLink platform has continued to enjoy operational success. More banks have received regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Kenya,” she said in interview. “In the five months since the switch went live in February, the channel pushed transactions valued at Sh8 billion slightly above our half year Sh7 billion target.”