Safaricom is pushing to reinstate charges on bank-to-mobile money transactions, even as it prepares to undertake talks with the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on the subject.
Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO, stated that the fees might be reinstated at a reduced rate, much as it did with the fees on transactions of Ksh1,000 and under, which had also been waived but were later restored.
“Safaricom will soon be launching new products and services in the second half of the financial year, including the M-PESA Go product to enhance child safety and sound financial knowledge to children below 18 years as well as the anticipated return to charging on banking transactions,” Ndegwa said.
This comes after Safaricom’s net profit declined 10% to Ksh33.5 billion in the six months that ended September due to a reduction in the mobile termination rate (MTR) and greater expenditures linked with the company’s entry into Ethiopia.
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Ndegwa noted that Safaricom had invested over USD 598million in Ethiopia operations and was encouraged by the early uptake of their services, great customer feedback on the quality of their data experience, and the revenue contribution by the Ethiopia unit.
The Government of Ethiopia committed to awarding Safaricom with a mobile money license which will boost commercial efforts, with a greater focus on driving financial inclusion and digital acceleration for the people of Ethiopia.
Service revenue increased by 4.6 percent to Ksh144.8 billion, fueled by M-Pesa, mobile data, and fixed data growth, while M-PESA revenue increased by 8.7% to Ksh56.86 billion, and mobile data revenue increased by 11.3% to Ksh26.30 billion. However, revenue from voice services fell by 3.8% to Ksh39.88 billion.
Read: 20,000 Customers Joining Safaricom Ethiopia Daily – Peter Ndegwa
While economic, regulatory and tax headwinds will continue impacting revenue performance, Safaricom anticipates increased usage and customer growth to drive half-two momentum.
“The board is pleased with the results delivered for the first half of the financial year and remains committed to protecting shareholder wealth, by ensuring management puts our customers first, continuously innovating to offer relevant products, services, and solutions to meet their needs. We remain mindful of the sustained consumer wallet pressure with rising inflation, the highest in five years at 9.2% in September 2022, and high commodity prices,” notes John Ngumi, Chairman, of Safaricom Board of Directors.
The free bank-to-mobile money wallet transactions were one of the emergency steps implemented by the CBK on March 16, 2020, to encourage the usage of mobile money rather than cash as a means of limiting the spread of COVID-19.
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