Who owns M-PESA?
M-PESA is owned by Vodafone (the United Kingdom, NASDAQ: VOD), 50% through its subsidiary Vodacom and 50% through its subsidiary Safaricom.[1]
Safaricom owns 50% of M-PESA rather than all of it.
Vodafone owns 65.1% of Vodacom rather than all of it.
Vodacom owns 55% of Safaricom rather than all of it.
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Safaricom PLC — Annual Report with Sustainability Disclosures for the year ended 31 March 2026, 10 July 2026. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Vodafone Group Plc via Vodacom › Safaricom (50% stake) reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom, Newbury
- Origin
- 🇰🇪 Kenya
- Founded
- 2007
- Category
- Internet & digital › Digital services › Payments
- Parent ticker
- NASDAQ: VOD
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About M-PESA
M-PESA is the mobile money service Safaricom launched in Kenya in 2007. It is used for person-to-person transfers, business payments, withdrawals and global payments, and it is the platform Safaricom's lending, savings and investment products run on. Among them are the Fuliza overdraft, underwritten by NCBA and KCB, and Ziidi Trader, launched with the Nairobi Securities Exchange so customers can buy and sell shares through M-PESA. Since March 2020 the brand has been owned by M-PESA Africa, which Safaricom and Vodacom own equally.
Ownership timeline of M-PESA
- Current owner Vodafone via Vodacom › Safaricom (50%) [1] reported The M-PESA brand belongs to M-PESA Africa Limited, a joint venture Safaricom and Vodacom Group each own 50%. In March 2020 it bought the brand, product development and support services from Vodafone Group. Safaricom runs M-PESA in Kenya as the licensed payment provider.
Where M-PESA sits in Vodafone
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
- Vodacom (65.1%) · 9 brands
- Safaricom (55%) · 3 brands
- M-PESA (50%)
- Safaricom
- Safaricom Ethiopia (54.17%)
- Safaricom (55%) · 3 brands
Open the full Vodafone ownership tree →
See the full Vodafone brand portfolio (23) →
Other brands owned by Vodafone
Vodafone controls 23 brands on Brandtree.
Founded in the 2000s
- Safaricom (2000)
- Vodacom DRC (2002)
- Vodacom Mozambique (2003)
- Vodacom Tanzania (2000)
- Vodafone Albania (2001)
Other brands in payments, and who owns them
The 38 brands in payments on Brandtree belong to 21 owners. The largest is PayPal, with 4.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| GoPay | GoTo | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
| Kaspi Alaqan | Kaspi.kz | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan |
| Braintree | PayPal | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Afterpay | Block | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Rakuten Card | Rakuten | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| AzamPay | Bakhresa | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
| GrabPay | Grab | 🇸🇬 Singapore |
| Mercado Crédito | MercadoLibre | 🇺🇾 Uruguay |
About the owner: Vodafone
Vodafone is a publicly listed company headquartered in Newbury, United Kingdom. Brandtree records 23 brands under its control, and it is listed as NASDAQ: VOD.
Vodafone Group Plc files an annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended 31 March 2026. The report describes operations in Europe and Africa, a 51% holding in the UK joint venture VodafoneThree, a 65.1% holding in Vodacom Group, associates including Safaricom, and a 50% interest in VodafoneZiggo that it announced in February 2026 it would sell.
🇰🇪 M-PESA and other Kenyan brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 59 brands that began in Kenya. 3 of them (5%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, M-PESA among them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of M-PESA?
The parent company of M-PESA is Vodafone, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United Kingdom. M-PESA sits under Vodafone's subsidiary Safaricom.
Is M-PESA Kenyan or British?
M-PESA originated in Kenya in 2007, but it is owned today by Vodafone, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom. So M-PESA is a Kenyan-origin brand under British ownership.
Is M-PESA still owned by Vodafone?
Yes. As of 25 October 2026, M-PESA is still owned by Vodafone, through Safaricom, which holds 50%, and through its subsidiary Vodacom, with the other 50%. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Safaricom PLC — Annual Report with Sustainability Disclosures for the year ended 31 March 2026 — Safaricom PLC, Annual report, published 10 July 2026; retrieved 25 October 2026.
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