Airtel Money pushes into merchant payments with Absa Bank Kenya account integration

Airtel Money pushes into merchant payments with Absa Bank Kenya account integration

Airtel Money, Kenya’s second-largest mobile money wallet, has integrated with Absa Bank Kenya to allow small businesses move money between mobile wallets and bank accounts without the manual steps that often delay settlement.

Merchants can now receive payments from Airtel Money users into Absa accounts and paybill numbers, a mobile money billing code similar to a merchant payment ID.

The integration targets a persistent bottleneck for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), which often operate across mobile money, bank accounts, and agent networks, slowing transactions and complicating cash management. Direct wallet-to-bank settlement reduces those delays while giving Airtel a clearer route into merchant payments, a segment long dominated by Safaricom’s M-PESA.

“This is about unlocking the full potential of digital payments for SMEs across Kenya and ensuring they have the tools to grow with confidence in a rapidly evolving economy,” Absa Bank Kenya Business Banking Director, Renato D’Souza, said in a statement on Monday.

Transaction value through mobile money agents totaled KES 633.35 billion ($4.9 billion) in February 2026, according to the Central Bank of Kenya, even as volumes declined with more users shifting to direct wallet and bank transfers.

M-PESA continues to anchor the market, processing 21.9 billion transactions worth KES 20.2 trillion ($156 billion) in the six months to September 2025, based on Safaricom disclosures.

Airtel’s share has climbed to about 11%, according to Communications Authority data, reflecting steady gains among price-sensitive users and merchants. The Absa integration extends that push by positioning its wallet as a more practical tool for day-to-day business transactions.

Banks like NCBA and KCB have already built similar integrations through partnerships with Safaricom. NCBA runs M-Shwari, a savings and loan product linked to M-PESA, while KCB offers KCB M-PESA, which provides short-term credit through the same platform.

Equity Bank takes a different approach through Equitel, its mobile virtual network, which links customer accounts directly to mobile money services for payments and transfers.

The Airtel–Absa integration extends Airtel’s push into merchant payments, where Safaricom has entrenched bank partnerships such as M-Shwari and KCB M-PESA that combine payments with savings and credit.