This archive report was first published on 23 June 2020.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread in Kenya, the Central Bank of Kenya's (CBK) waiver on mobile money transaction fees for amounts below KSh 1,000 is set to expire on June 16th, 2020, after a 90-day period that started on March 17th, 2020.
Following consultations with the CBK in March, mobile money service providers increased mobile-based transaction limits to KSh 150,000 from the previous KSh 70,000 and allowed daily transfers of up to KSh 300,000 from KSh 140,000.
Additionally, the CBK eliminated charges for transfers between mobile wallets and bank accounts, aiming to increase the use of digital money instead of cash payments.
Airtel money went a step further by waiving all charges, allowing its customers to send or receive money for free on its cash transfer platform, a move that surpassed what was offered by Safaricom and Telkom, whose revised charges only applied to amounts below KSh 1,000.
However, the transaction fee waivers and other changes caused by the pandemic are expected to cause a KSh 5.5 Billion decline in Safaricom's M-Pesa revenue for the three months from mid-March, equivalent to about 7% of Mpesa's annual earnings.
Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa expressed confidence in the company's ability to weather the storm, saying, 'We are in a good place to be able to weather this storm, but our business is linked to how the country comes out on the other side.'
Kenya continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, with cases steadily rising each passing hour. As of June 22nd, 2020, the positive cases have risen to 4797 cases, with the pandemic now spreading to 40 counties.
