Kenyans are staring at costly mobile money transactions in 2025 after telecommunication giant Safaricom PLC hiked M-Pesa transaction charges and withdrawal fees for transactions between KSh 50 and KSh 250,000.
The hike is likely to lead to increased Airtel Money transactions as Kenyans seek cheaper alternatives.
While Airtel Money is considered the cheapest, it has only 19,858,255 subscribers compared to Safaricom’s 44,666,368, of which 34 million are subscribed to and actively use Mpesa services.
The second largest telecommunications company in Kenya, with a market share of 21.4% does not charge any fees for sending money from Airtel to Airtel network.
In contrast, Safaricom charges transaction fees for all networks, including Safaricom-to-Safaricom transfers, except for amounts below Ksh100.
Below is the current tariff guide for both telcos in a combined table format for uniform transaction bands:
M-Pesa charges: Amount of money you will be charged to send, withdraw money in 2025
| Withdrawal amount | Mpesa charges 2025 | Airtel charges 2025 |
| Ksh1 to Ksh49 | N/A | N/A |
| Ksh50 to Ksh100 | Ksh11 | Ksh10 |
| Ksh101 to Ksh500 | Ksh29 | Ksh25 |
| Ksh501 to Ksh1,000 | Ksh29 | Ksh25 |
| Ksh1,001 to Ksh1,500 | Ksh29 | Ksh25 |
| Ksh1,501 to Ksh2,500 | Ksh29 | Ksh25 |
| Ksh2,501 to Ksh3,500 | Ksh52 | Ksh44 |
| Ksh3,501 to Ksh5,000 | Ksh69 | Ksh55 |
| Ksh5,001 to Ksh7,500 | Ksh87 | Ksh70 |
| Ksh7,501 to Ksh10,000 | Ksh115 | Ksh95 |
| Ksh10,001 to Ksh15,000 | Ksh167 | Ksh135 |
| Ksh15,001 to Ksh20,000 | Ksh185 | Ksh150 |
| Ksh20,001 to Ksh25,000 | Ksh197 | Ksh160 |
| Ksh20,001 to Ksh35,000 | Ksh197 | N/A |
| Ksh25,001 to Ksh35,000 | Ksh197 | Ksh160 |
| Ksh35,001 to Ksh40,000 | Ksh278 | Ksh240 |
| Ksh40,001 to Ksh45,000 | Ksh278 | Ksh260 |
| Ksh45,001 to Ksh50,000 | Ksh278 | Ksh270 |
| Ksh35,001 to Ksh50,000 | Ksh278 | N/A |
| Ksh50,001 to Ksh250K | Ksh309 | Ksh300 |
