Kenyans will soon be able to send and receive money across networks in real time.
The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) said mobile money operators would today start implementing mobile money interoperability, enabling users to make money transfers across networks.
“One of the key reasons we need interoperability is to make sure that people are not limited by a closed network, you should be able to send money to anyone on any network and receive money from anyone,” said ICT minister Joe Mucheru.
This will mean, for instance, that one can send money from their M-Pesa account to an Airtel Money user, who will receive the money in their mobile wallet and withdraw it from an Airtel Money agent.
“What this means is that when you send money from one network to another, that money goes straight into your wallet. As you know at the moment, when you send money across networks, you receive an SMS and you have to go cash it, and you can’t easily use it,” says Mucheru.
M-Pesa has the largest share, with 22.8 million subscribers, or 80 per cent market share. Equitel, run by Equity Bank’s Finserve, is a distant second with 6.8 per cent share (1.9 million), while Mobikash has a 6.3 per cent share (1.77 million).
