Kenya Mobile Money Service Provider Remove Transaction Fees In Response To Corona

Kenya’s Central Bank has instructed mobile money service providers to remove charges to incentivise greater use of mobile money instead of cash as one of the measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Transactions under 1000Ksh (US$10) will be free for the next 90 days;
SMEs will have their daily M-PESA transaction limits increased from 70 000Ksh-150 000Ksh (US$700-US$1500).

Kenya only has 3 confirmed cases of Covid-19, but they are still taking measures to encourage social distancing and having people handle money less frequently seems like a step in the right direction.

The announcement follows President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive to mobile money service providers to “to explore ways of deepening mobile-money usage to reduce risk of spreading the virus through physical handling of cash”.