CBK moves to slash M-Pesa, Airtel Money transfer charges

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) wants to slash and cap the transaction fees telcos charge for sending money among users of mobile money services like M-Pesa and Airtel Money.

In its latest National Financial Inclusion Strategy, the lender wants the average cost per transaction reduced from the current Ksh.23 to Ksh.10 by 2028, and person-to-person (P2P) transaction fees capped.

According to the central bank, access to mobile money among Kenya’s adult population has risen from 27 percent in 2006 to 82.3 percent in 2024.

But recent data shows signs of plateauing growth in access and usage, with high transaction costs among the major factors hampering the use of digital financial services, the lender says.

“Most users still rely primarily on basic services like person-to-person transfers, with limited uptake of advanced offerings such as digital credit, insurance, or savings,” CBK says in the plan.

“This is attributed to issues such as limited interoperability, high transaction costs, low financial literacy, and product designs that do not reflect the realities of underserved groups.”

Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telco, does not charge customers sending Ksh.100 or below on M-Pesa, but the cost varies for different higher bands, such as Ksh.13 for transfers between Ksh.501 and Ksh.1,000, and Ksh.108 for transactions between Ksh.50,001 and Ksh.250,000.

Airtel Money, meanwhile, offers free transfers among Airtel customers but charges from Ksh.6 (for transactions between Ksh.101 and Ksh.500) to Ksh.105 for cash transfers between Ksh.50,001 and Ksh.250,000 to other networks.

CBK has marked the proposal as high-priority, although it would require parliamentary approval before enactment.

If implemented, it could ease the cost of cash transfers for millions of Kenyans but eat into telcos’ profit margins, which have become significant revenue drivers for the companies.

M-Pesa’s Ksh.161 billion earnings for the financial year ending March 2025, for instance, were 44.2 percent of Safaricom’s Kenya unit service revenue.