Tanzania’s real-time digital payments more than doubled in value in 2024, with the national switch processing TSh29.9 trillion (US$11.6 billion) in transactions by December, up from TSh12.5 trillion (US$4.9 billion) the previous year, according to the Bank of Tanzania’s (BoT) latest financial stability report.
The Tanzania Instant Payment System (TIPS), introduced in 2020, enables users to transfer funds instantly between banks, mobile money wallets and other licensed financial institutions.
According to TechCabal, the system is a key part of the country’s efforts to address fragmentation in its payments landscape.
In 2024, TIPS processed 454 million transactions, nearly double the 236 million recorded in 2023, following an increase in participating institutions to 46.
BoT noted that the platform has become a central component of Tanzania’s digital financial infrastructure, supporting instant payments and promoting financial inclusion, particularly among underserved communities.
In contrast to Kenya’s market-led approach, where Safaricom’s M-Pesa continues to dominate mobile money, Tanzania has taken a more centralised path, placing interoperability at the centre of its strategy.
TIPS functions as a central clearing system operated by the central bank.
Nevertheless, Kenya’s mobile money ecosystem remains significantly larger.
In 2024, mobile money transactions in Kenya reached KES8.7 trillion (US$67.3 billion), amounting to more than half of the country’s gross domestic product.
Tanzania has also upgraded its Financial Services Registry with geospatial mapping capabilities to monitor the availability of financial services and address persistent gaps in rural access.
As of December 2024, the country had more than 52,000 financial access points, including mobile money agents, bank branches and automated teller machines, but coverage remains uneven.
In some rural districts, the number of access points remains below the national average of 4.8 per 10,000 adults, compared with urban areas such as Dar es Salaam, where the figure exceeds 15 per 10,000.
The regulator aims to use the mapping tool to better understand these disparities and direct investment toward underserved regions.
By comparison, Kenya reported more than 320,000 mobile money agents in 2024, with an average of 11 access points per 10,000 adults, according to data from the Central Bank of Kenya.
Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Africa, based on image by mehaniq and DC Studio via Freepik
