The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has reintroduced bank to mobile money transfer charges that were suspended by the previous government under Uhuru Kenyatta.
The new charges will come into effect on January 1, 2023.
The CBK said that the reintroduction followed talks between the regulator and banks and telecommunications firm Safaricom.
Safaricom and banks have been calling for the reintroduction of the mobile mone to bank account charges.
“The revised maximum charges for transfers from bank accounts to mobile money wallets will be reduced by on average up to 61 per cent, and mobile money wallet to bank account by on average up to 47 per cent,” the bank said.
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“Tariffs for pay bills that are used to collect and disburse funds by businesses, companies, and institutions such as schools, utilities, etc, will be reduced by on average 50 per cent.”
The charges that are levied by banks for bank-to-mobile money transactions will be reduced by an average of 45 per cent.
The transfer charges had been suspended by an executive order by former President Uhuru in March 2016 to cushion Kenyans from the heavy impact of the pandemic on the economy.
The suspension, however, did not affect profitability for banks with the majority of them recording double profits for the third quarter of 2022.