The Central Bank of Kenya has announced that beginning January 1, 2023, bank-to-mobile money transfers will incur fees.
This change comes after the financial industry in Kenya advocated for the reinstatement of these fees, which were previously suspended at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The free service has been available to Kenyans for nearly three years, but will no longer be offered. Transfers made to mobile money wallets will now incur a transactional fee, with specific fees for National Bank (part of the KCB Group) being provided.
Here are the charges from the lender to M-PESA and Airtel Money:
| Min | Max | Bank Charge | Safaricom Charge | Total | Bank Charge | Airtel Charge | Total Charge |
| 1 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 101 | 500 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| 501 | 1000 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| 1001 | 1500 | 10 | 4 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| 1501 | 2500 | 15 | 8 | 23 | 15 | 10 | 25 |
| 2501 | 3500 | 25 | 8 | 33 | 25 | 10 | 35 |
| 3501 | 5000 | 35 | 8 | 23 | 35 | 10 | 45 |
| 5001 | 7500 | 45 | 10 | 55 | 45 | 10 | 55 |
| 7501 | 20,000 | 50 | 10 | 60 | 50 | 10 | 60 |
| 20,001 | 150,000 | 55 | 12 | 67 | 55 | 10 | 65 |
“Following the recent announcement by Central Bank of Kenya on the resumption of charges for transfer between mobile money wallets and bank accounts which had been waived since 16th March 2020 by CBK as a mitigation measure for the COVID-19 pandemic, we would like to notify our esteemed customers that National Bank will reinstate transaction charges effective 1st January 2023,” says the bank in a statement.
