NAIROBI — Kenya’s Central Bank has proposed sweeping cuts to mobile money transfer fees, in a move that could ease costs for millions but unsettle the country’s largest telecom firms.
In its new National Financial Inclusion Strategy, the bank said it wants the average cost of sending money reduced from KSh 23 to KSh 10 by 2028. It also called for a cap on person-to-person fees, long viewed as a burden for low-income users who rely on services like M-Pesa and Airtel Money for daily transactions.
The Central Bank argued that while mobile money has transformed access to financial services in Kenya—jumping from 27 percent of adults in 2006 to 82 percent in 2024—the momentum is slowing. High costs, it said, are among the main barriers.
“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,” the strategy notes. It blamed high transaction costs, limited interoperability, and product design flaws for keeping many Kenyans from moving beyond basic transfers.
Safaricom, which controls the market through M-Pesa, currently waives fees for transfers of KSh 100 and below. But costs quickly rise: sending between KSh 501 and KSh 1,000 costs KSh 13, while a transfer of up to KSh 250,000 costs KSh 108.
Airtel Money, its main rival, offers free transfers between its own customers but charges up to KSh 105 for cross-network transfers.
The stakes are high. Mobile money has become one of the biggest revenue streams for Kenya’s telecom operators. M-Pesa alone earned Safaricom KSh 161 billion in the year to March 2025, accounting for more than 44 percent of its Kenya service revenue.
Analysts say the Central Bank’s plan, if enacted, would hand welcome relief to ordinary Kenyans but squeeze telcos’ margins. “The social benefit is clear, but there will be pushback from providers who see mobile money as their cash cow,” said a Nairobi-based economist familiar with the sector.
Parliament would still need to approve any caps before they become law. But CBK has marked the proposal as a priority, signalling that the debate over how to balance affordability for citizens and profitability for firms is far from over.
For now, the question hangs in the balance: will cheaper transfers broaden financial inclusion, or will resistance from powerful telecoms stall the plan?
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