This archive report was first published on 7 July 2020.
On July 7, 2020, Safaricom lost its bid to cap free M-Pesa transactions, with the Central Bank of Kenya extending the waiver on mobile money transaction fees under Sh1,000 for another six months.
The move, announced on June 24, could see Safaricom lose up to Sh15.3 billion in revenue, on top of the Sh1.7 billion it had already estimated it would lose monthly.
The telecoms operator had petitioned the Central Bank of Kenya to cap the number of multiple transactions between two numbers, after subscribers split high-value transfers to avoid paying transfer fees.
According to a recent disclosure of conference call transcripts between Safaricom and investors, the firm had been in discussions with the CBK to seal the loophole of splitting high-value M-Pesa transactions.
Michael Joseph, Safaricom's director, said in the transcript of a call made to investors on April 29 that the firm had pressurised the CBK to allow it to cap the number of split transactions at five, but the regulator had not obliged.
‘We have pressurised the CBK to allow us to cap the number of split transactions at five. So far CBK has not obliged, but we are continuing to put pressure on them,’ Mr Joseph said.
The free M-Pesa service had seen Safaricom lose an average of Sh1.8 billion monthly since mid-March, a pointer that it could miss sales of up to Sh16.2 billion in the nine months to December.
Earlier data from the regulator showed that the daily average mobile phone money transactions of less than Sh1,000 grew by 83 percent to Sh1.98 billion daily between April 20 and May 10, while mobile transactions of more than Sh1,000 dropped 18.4 percent to Sh5.6 billion daily.
