The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced an increase in mobile money transaction and wallet limits, in a move aimed at boosting financial inclusion and supporting small businesses.
The daily mobile money wallet limit has been raised from KES 300,000 to KES 500,000, while the daily transaction limit has gone up from KES 150,000 to KES 250,000.
“There has been a significant increase in the volume and value of mobile money transactions, number of active new customers and services that facilitate payments to businesses such as pay bill and till numbers.” CBK said in a statement.
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The decision follows requests from various payment service providers to review the limits, which were previously increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. At that time, the transaction limit rose from KES 70,000 to KES 150,000, while the wallet limit went up from KES 150,000 to KES 300,000.
Data from CBK shows that between March 2020 and June 2023, there was a massive 310 percent combined increase in paybill and till numbers. The volume and value of paybill payments also surged by a combined 652 percent, while till number payments rose 599 percent in volume over the same period.
The central bank says increasing the limits aims to advance financial inclusion and support businesses in Kenya, where 81.4 percent of households rely on mobile money services according to the 2021 FinAccess survey. Last year, Kenyans transacted a total of KES 35.8 trillion via M-Pesa alone.
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It has however acknowledged that its moves to increase financial inclusion may increase money laundering and fraud risks. It asked PSP’s to improve their risk mitigation.
“CBK will closely monitor the implementation of the approved measures, to take appropriate action where necessary and assess impact on the wider financial ecosystem.” The regulator said.
The move aligns with recent policies by the Ruto administration targeting MSMEs, such as raising loan limits for the Hustler Fund to KES 200,000 and increasing the cash transaction reporting threshold from USD 10,000 to USD 15,000.
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