Safaricom’s Pochi la Biashara wallet has crossed 2.2 million active users, making it more widely used than the company’s Lipa Na M-Pesa service, which currently counts approximately 1 million registered merchants. Safaricom’s Pochi La Biashara is now more widely used than Lipa na M-Pesa. Photo: Safaricom. Source: Twitter Safaricom announced the milestone on X on Tuesday, September 15, describing Pochi la Biashara as an essential tool for small business owners and side hustlers across Kenya. “By offering non-reversible payments and privacy protection, Pochi provides women traders and entrepreneurs a secure way to manage business funds,” the company wrote. How did Pochi la Biashara grow? A report by GSMA examined the factors behind the product’s rapid expansion, tracing its trajectory from 600,000 users in 2024 to 1.1 million in 2025, before doubling to the current 2.2 million figure. The GSMA study drew on data from 1,992 women microentrepreneurs using digital financial services across 35 markets in Nairobi, Murang’a, and Kajiado. Researchers found that while Pochi had gained traction among Kenyans running informal businesses, many women traders were not fully exploiting the product’s capabilities. Two features drove much of its appeal among this group: transactions sent through Pochi cannot be reversed, and senders are unable to view the recipient’s phone number. Both attributes reduce exposure to fraud and unwanted contact, making the wallet particularly attractive to women operating small enterprises. Which Pochi features are underutilised? The GSMA findings also highlighted a significant gap between awareness and actual usage of Pochi’s additional functions. Among new users, 48% were familiar with the mini-statement feature, yet only 8% had ever used it. Awareness of the Lipa na Pochi feature was considerably higher at 71%, though usage among new users still lagged at 53%. The airtime trading function, which lets users buy or sell airtime directly through the wallet, had the lowest rate: only 34% of new users knew the feature existed, and just 7% had activated it. Which charges did Safaricom cut? In related news, Safaricom revised M-Pesa tariffs for Pochi la Biashara, Lipa na M-Pesa Buy Goods, and M-Pesa Business Till merchants. The changes were introduced in phases from August 1, 2026, with some business transaction charges falling by up to 50%. The new tariff structure raises the free Pochi la Biashara transaction limit to KSh 200 and caps larger payments at KSh 50.
Safaricom’s Pochi La Biashara Users Hits 2.2m, Surpasses Lipa na M-Pesa Traders
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