KCB Group Plc has entered into an agreement to acquire a minority stake in Pesapal, the pioneering Kenyan digital payments company founded in 2009. The deal aims to develop specialized payment solutions for Kenya’s crucial small and micro businesses (SMEs).
The acquisition, which remains subject to final clearance from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), signals KCB’s intensifying strategy to diversify beyond traditional banking.
Pesapal’s growth story highlights the pressure traditional banks like KCB are now facing. Founded by Agosta Liko, Pesapal was born out of necessity following the 2007 post-election violence and the subsequent global financial crisis. Liko and his team initially sought to build a regional travel network, but found themselves repeatedly frustrated by the lack of a proper payment gateway. This challenge inspired them to build their own.
The journey was marked by extreme difficulty: in its first year, Pesapal processed only three transactions.
The company’s fortunes changed in 2010 when a project to design an online ticketing platform for Access Kenya saw them complete 156 transactions, leading to the creation of Ticketsasa.com. This venture laid the foundational infrastructure for Pesapal’s current services. By 2011, Pesapal signed its first major merchants, including Zuku, which Agosta Liko credits with helping the company build out its entire team, processes, risk management, and settlement framework.
Today, Pesapal is a licensed Payment Service Provider (PSP) that handles online, mobile, and in-store transactions, supporting platforms like M-Pesa, Airtel Money, Visa, and Mastercard. The company has expanded operations into seven African countries and developed innovative products like the Pesapal Sabi POS designed to help SMEs manage reconciliation and sales reports.
This investment comes as banks feel mounting pressure from the mobile money boom. Convenience, low cost, and accessibility have driven rapid adoption, with the latest Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) data from June 2025 showing a staggering 47.7 million active mobile money subscriptions in Kenya. This trend is eroding banks’ market share in deposits, payments, and lending, making strategic acquisitions like the Pesapal deal vital for KCB’s future competitiveness.
The deal has received public announcement approval from the Capital Markets Authority.