You pay for lunch with a Till number, send money to a friend through mobile money, settle a bill through Paybill or receive payment. The transaction takes seconds, yet no banknote changes hands. 

For millions of Kenyans, this has become ordinary. But as more of the economy moves from wallets to phones, what do we gain from going cashless, and what might we be giving up? 

The shift is already visible in the numbers. Mobile money subscriptions reached 51.4 million in 2025, up 21.4 per cent from the previous year, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Economic Survey 2026. The value of person-to-person mobile transfers rose from Sh6.81 trillion in 2024 to Sh8.66 trillion in 2025. 

At the same time, deposits through mobile-money agents fell 10.1 per cent to Sh5.45 trillion, while withdrawals and transfers declined from Sh8.70 trillion to Sh8.24 trillion. That points to a growing habit of keeping money digital instead of converting it into cash. 

What you gain 

Digital money is fast. A customer does not need to carry enough cash to make a purchase, find an ATM or wait for change. A trader can receive payment immediately and use the same digital balance to pay a supplier or settle a bill. 

For businesses, digital payments can also reduce the risks of keeping large amounts of cash on the premises. Electronic records make it easier to track transactions and, for some businesses, simplify accounting. 

There is also the convenience of distance. Money that once had to be physically carried across the country can now be transferred from one phone to another within seconds. 

For a country where sending money home has long been part of everyday life, that is a significant change. 

Then comes the price. 

The same convenience creates new dependencies. 

Digital money needs a working phone, network connection, electricity and functioning payment systems. When any of these fail, the ability to transact can fail with them. 

There is also the growing risk of fraud. As more money moves through phones, users become targets for scams, impersonation, social engineering and stolen credentials. A digital transaction can be completed in seconds, but recovering money sent to the wrong person or lost through fraud may be far more complicated. 

Then there are the costs that are easy to overlook. 

Transaction charges may appear small, but for someone making several payments every day, they can add up. For small traders operating on thin margins, the cost of receiving and sending money can become part of the price of doing business. 

Who gets left behind? 

A cashless economy also assumes a certain level of access. 

Not everyone has a reliable phone, strong network coverage or the digital skills needed to navigate increasingly sophisticated payment systems. Older people, people in poorly connected areas and those less comfortable with technology can find themselves at a disadvantage as everyday transactions become increasingly digital. 

There is another issue: cash offers a degree of simplicity and privacy that digital transactions do not. A physical payment can take place without a phone, account or digital record. Digital money, by contrast, leaves a trail and depends on institutions and technology to keep that system working. 

Kenya has been changing money for generations 

This is not the first time Kenyans have changed how they think about money. 

Before modern currencies, communities used cattle, salt, grain and cowrie shells as stores of value and means of exchange. The Kenyan shilling was introduced in 1966, replacing the East African shilling at par and giving the country a common monetary unit. generations.

Then came mobile money in 2007, separating value from the physical currency. Today, a till/paybill account can allow money to move from customer to trader to supplier without ever becoming cash. 

Even cheques have lost ground. Their value fell from the equivalent of about 57 per cent of GDP in 2010 to 22 per cent in 2021. 

But that does not automatically make a cashless economy better. 

Kenya’s challenge is to make digital payments secure, affordable, reliable and accessible, while preserving cash as an option for those who need it.