The Lower Eastern Times Opening The Third Eye
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The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced plans to cap charges on person-to-person mobile money transfers, a decision likely to affect the revenues of Safaricom’s M-Pesa and Airtel Money.
According to the regulator, most Kenyans continue to use mobile money mainly for simple transfers rather than advanced services like digital loans, insurance, or savings.
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The initiative, part of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2025–2028, seeks to cut the average transaction fee from Sh23 in 2024 to Sh10 by 2028.
Currently, transfer charges can be as high as 6.9 percent of the transaction value—much higher than retail bank transfer fees. The CBK notes that this cost burden, coupled with weak interoperability and limited product innovation, has slowed down the growth of mobile money adoption.
M-Pesa remains the market leader, handling over 90 percent of transactions. However, capping charges could squeeze operator revenues, with personal transfers accounting for about 40 percent of M-Pesa’s earnings.
Despite this, CBK underlined mobile money’s vital role in advancing financial inclusion since its launch in 2007. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when transfer fees below Sh1,000 were waived (March 2020–December 2022), the number of active users jumped by 6.2 million.
Monthly transactions rose from 162 million to 440 million, while transaction values grew from Sh234 billion to Sh399 billion.
Although fees were reinstated in 2023, they remain below pre-pandemic levels. Mobile money subscriptions now stand at 47.7 million, representing 91 percent penetration, according to the Communications Authority of Kenya.
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The CBK says it will work with telecom companies and lawmakers to promote fair pricing and affordable digital financial services, stressing the need to balance immediate profits with long-term sustainable growth.
