The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced the resumption of charges for transactions above Ksh.100 effected through mobile money wallets that are closely linked to the Savings and Credit Societies (SACCO) sector.
This would further raise charges for transactions in SACCOs which had been put on hold to mitigate the pandemic stricken 2020 economy.
The Central bank has acknowledged the SACCO’s contribution to the larger banking sector, and through the intervention, the ailing sector’s cross-border payment system.
“That the SACCO sector is deeply integrated to these wallets and accounts for a significant share of their transactions. Through them, banks provide SACCOs with an important bridge to the domestic and cross border payment systems.”
A recurring concern has been that the viability of these services may be adversely affected in the current price regime, given the inability to cover the underlying costs.
This is a significant risk for SACCOs and their extensive membership due to the lack of other alternatives to connect to the mobile money ecosystem.
The resumption of charges will provide space to increase the connection options for SACCOs.
The resumption of the charges will be subject to review by CBK against the pricing principles announced on December 17, 2020 of customer centricity, transparency and disclosure, fairness and equity, choice and competition and affordability.
These principles were introduced on the expiry of the emergency measures waiving charges for low value mobile money person to person transactions below Ksh.1,000.
Other measures on waiver of charges between mobile money wallets and bank accounts remained in force.
