Safaricom and other telcos asked for the free mobile transactions to stop and their prayers have been answered. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has officially suspended the zero-rating order for mobile money transactions under KES 1,000. In case you’ve been sending your money in 100’s so that you can save money you will not enjoy the luxury of sending money for free. However, currently we’re waiting to see the changes CBK will make since the transaction fees will be adjusted. Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said: “This has been a tough period for businesses and our customers and we committed ourselves to walk through this journey together. During this period, we took several initiatives to support our customers and the government to pull through this pandemic,” It is not clear what the charges will be once they are revised but transfers under KES 100 will be free as of 2021. Additionally, mobile money-to-bank transactions are set to be free as well. In its announcing statement, CBK wrote: CBK has reassessed the emergency measures with the objective of consolidating the gains made so far and also facilitate a transition towards sustainable growth of the mobile money ecosystem. Following consultations with Payment Service Providers (PSPs), CBK will allow the emergency measures to expire on December 31, 2020, and PSPs will introduce revised pricing structures from January 1, 2021, with the following elements:
