In a move to implement the government directive on cashless
transaction and reduce the spread of coronavirus in the country, leading
telecommunication company Safaricom PLC has announced transaction fee waiver.
Through the company’s position statement, Chief Executive
Officer Michael Joseph said that user-to-user transaction below Kshs.1000 will
be absolutely free.
The CEO said that this was reached at after the Central Bank
of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge held a meeting with the sector players on Monday,
to deliberate on the evolving situation around the coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic.
“The meeting reached to a conclusion that all person-to-person
transactions below Kshs.1000 shall be free, with effect from March 17, up until
90 days,” said Mr. Joseph.
He added that SMEs can now enjoy CBK approval of the
increased daily MPESA transaction limits of up to Kshs.150,000 from
Kshs.70,000.
“Kenyans will be able to transact up to Kshs.300,000 from
the current limit of Kshs.140,000 and hold up to Kshs.300,000 in their MPESA
wallet,” said the CEO.
The CBK meeting with telecommunication stakeholders follows
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive on Sunday, to explore ways of enhancing
mobile money usage, thus reducing the risk of spreading the virus through
physical handling of cash.
“The President also directed that we consider reducing the
cost of using mobile money during this period,” added Safaricom boss.
The company is also working with government, ministry of
health to ensure that Kenyans gets free information about COVID-19, via the
toll-free number 719.
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