The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has given Safaricom a go-ahead to reinstate the money transaction fees for transfers under Sh1000 beginning January.
This means that the only free MPesa transactions will be under Sh100 after CBK’s review.
According to CBK records, since the waiver was introduced the monthly volume of person-to-person transactions increased by 87 percent between February and October 2020.
Over this period, the volume of transactions below Sh1,000 increased by 114 percent, while 2.8 million additional customers are using mobile money. Business-related transactions also recorded significant growth over the same period.
“Following consultations with Payment Service Providers (PSPs), CBK will allow the emergency measures to expire on December 31, 2020,” CBK said.
Banks will however continue offering free transfer of cash between accounts and mobile wallets while Saccos will charge transactions.
CBK introduced the waiver in mid-March for three months and extended it in June to the end of the year.
