It is really frustrating when you have to move around trying to locate an Airtel Money agent. Some of the shops branded as Airtel Money agents do not offer the services any more. When you ask them why they claim that “Haina pesa. Biashara yake ni kidogo.” One even went ahead to ask me if there are really any individuals out there who really use it. The other response that you will often get is that “Sina float.” The only sure place you are guaranteed of the service is at Airtel shops. Does the ticketing system really work? I find myself waiting the same time to be served as was the case before.
Well Airtel Kenya claims that it has doubled its active agent base. According to a statement from the company, initially it had 10,000 agents but that number has gone up to 22,000. Airtel Kenya has also purposed to ensure that there is at least four Airtel Money agents in every rural market centre country-wide. This is because most of the Airtel Money agents are concentrated in urban centres.
“In the era of financial inclusion through increased accessibility to mobile financial services, it is estimated that 32% of adults are loyal to a particular mobile financial service agent. This increase in Airtel Money agents therefore is a step in the right direction to ensure that Airtel customers can now easily access our affordable and reliable Airtel Money services.”
-Airtel Kenya CEO, Adil El Youddefi
Apart from that it will now take you one hour to register as an Airtel Money agent. Initially the process took a whole two weeks to finalize. Just one hour and you are all set to start your operations in a new location, serving a new set of customers and earning commissions. Hope next time I won’t have to travel all the way to City Centre to be served.
