The number of Kenyans needing card-based international payments is growing. This is evidenced by 62.1% growth in M-Pesa Visa card active customers.
Visa card users reached 316,477 in the year ended March 2026, up from 195,196 active users in the previous year. That is 121,300 new virtual cardholders added, with a total of 8.5 million separate card transactions processed.
The M-Pesa GlobalPay virtual card allows customers to pay international online merchants for products and services using their card credentials. It’s used for online shopping on platforms like Amazon and subscription services like Spotify and Netflix, among others.
What is worth noting is that the average value per active customer declined. The user base may be growing, but Safaricom’s latest data shows customers spent less on average.
For the year ending in March 2025, transaction value reached KES 8.7 billion. With 195,196 users, this translates to an average annual spend of KES 44,600 ($347) per active virtual Visa user.
In the just-concluded period ending March 2026, the platform recorded KES 12 billion in transaction value. When distributed across the active user base, the average per customer stood at KES 37,900 ($295) for the year. It means average spending declined by KES 6700.
Lower online spending led to revenue per customer dropping 15%, from KES 2,049 to KES 1,580.
While the M-Pesa Visa card is successfully achieving mass market penetration, it is also experiencing the classic tradeoff of broader reach vs. lower average revenue per user.
It’s a win for financial access by enabling global digital payments, but the users’ purchasing power weakened in the last financial year.
For Safaricom, the win was in money coming in, as this service earned the company KES 500 million. It represented a 50.6% growth from KES 400 million earned in the previous year.
While growing, this segment’s earnings are just 0.27% of the total KES 182.7 billion revenue Safaricom earned from its mobile money service.
| Metric | FY25 | FY26 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active Users | 195,196 | 316,477 | +62.1% |
| Total Value Transacted | KES 8.7B | KES 12B | +38% |
| Average Per Customer (Annual) | KES 44,600 | KES 37,900 | -15% |
| Revenue to Safaricom | KES 400M | KES 500M | +50.6% |
