Safaricom announces M-pesa fees waiver to encourage cashless transactions
Safaricom on Monday announced that it will waive fees for M-Pesa transactions below Sh1,000 following the outbreak of coronavirus.
The giant telecommunication firm CEO Michael Joseph said they arrived at the decision after meeting with Central Bank of Kenya Governor Dr. Patrick Njoroge and other industry players to discuss the evolving situation around the COVID-19 (Corona Virus) pandemic.
"The meeting follows the directive by H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta to explore ways of deepening mobile money usage to reduce the risk of spreading the virus through the physical handling of cash. The President also directed that we consider reducing the cost of using mobile money during this period," CEO said in a statement.
President had asked mobile service providers to consider reducing the cost of using mobile money during this period to curb the spread of the virus.
"To support this, and in particular small and micro business enterprises (SMEs), CBK has also approved the increase of daily M-PESA transaction limits from the current Ksh70,000 to Ksh150,000. Kenyans will also be able to transact up to Ksh300,000 up from the current limit of Ksh140,000, and hold up to Ksh300,000 in their M-PESA wallets," statement reads in part.
The new changes take effect on Tuesday March, 17, 2020.
