CBK Reintroduces Bank to Mobile Money Charges Effective January 2023.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced the reintroduction of charges for transactions between mobile money wallets and bank accounts. The charges were waived on March 16, 2020 as part of the emergency measures to facilitate use of mobile money in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a notice published Tuesday, the CBK said the new charges will be significantly lower than those that applied before and will take effect on January 1, 2023.

According to the CBK, 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.
Tariffs for paybills 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 percent. The charges levied by banks for bank to mobile money transactions will be reduced by on average 45 percent.

The regulator said that in the period between March 2020 and October 2022, the number of Kenyans actively using mobile money increased by over 6.2 million. The monthly volume and value of P2P transactions increased from 162 million transactions worth Ksh 234 billion, to 440 million transactions worth Ksh. 399 billion, an increase of 171 percent and 71 percent, respectively.

The monthly volume and value of transactions between PSPs and banks increased from 18 million transactions worth about Ksh. 157 billion, to over 113 million transactions worth Ksh. 800 billion, an increase of 527 percent and 410 percent. respectively.

Respective payment service providers and banks will announce the revised transaction charges before January 1, 2023.