The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced the reinstatement of charges on transfers of money between bank accounts and mobile money wallets.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the government waived the charges as part of the emergency measure to facilitate the use of mobile money to avoid face interactions with money to curb spread of the virus.
In a notice published on Tuesday, CBK said the reintroduced charges, which will come to effect on January 1 next year, will be significantly lower than those that applied before.
“The revised maximum charges for transfers from bank accounts to mobile money wallets will be reduced by on average up to 61 percent, and mobile money wallet to bank account by on average up to 47 percent,” said CBK.
“Tariffs for paybills that are used to collect and disburse funds by businesses, companies and institutions will be reduced on average 50 percent while charges levied by banks for banks to mobile money transactions will be reduced by on average 45 percent,” the regulator added.
Respective payment service providers and banks will announce the revised transaction charges before January 1.
The move will offer relief for commercial banks that have for months decried the regulator’s reluctance to reinstate the fees.