The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced that it will end the free MPESA transaction below KES 1000 under the Covid-related price cuts on 31st December 2020.
CBK says that a significant increase of mobile money usage has been noted over the period the measures have been in place, demonstrating that they were timely and effective.
For instance, the monthly volume of person-to-person transactions increased by 87 per cent between February and October 2020.
Over this period the volume of transactions below Ksh.1,000 increased by 114 per cent, while 2.8 million additional customers are using mobile money. Business-related transactions also recorded significant growth over the same period.
Safaricom’s core first-half earnings dropped 10.5 per cent year on year, hit by a 14.5 per cent decline in M-Pesa revenue.
CBK has reassessed the emergency measures with the objective of consolidating the gains made so far and also facilitate a transition towards sustainable growth of the mobile- money ecosystem.
The CBK also noted that there will be a revised transaction pricing structures from January 1, 2021, with the following elements:
- There will be no charge for person-to-person transfers of up to Ksh.100 to any customer and network.
- There will be no charges for transfers between mobile money wallets and bank accounts.
- To facilitate the integration of Savings and Credit Societies (SACCOs) with the mobile money ecosystem, SACCOs regulated by the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority(SASRA) may levy a charge for transfers between SACCO accounts and mobile money wallets. CBK will oversee these charges in the context of the products that banks and PSPs offer to SACCOs.
- Going forward, PSPs will propose pricing structures that reflect the “PricingPrinciples” that CBK has introduced (see Annex). These “Principles” aim to support the development of an efficient, safe and stable payments and mobile money ecosystem where the customer and public interests are adequately protected.
