Airtel Kenya has announced that it will waive all its mobile money transaction fees to customers. Earlier in the day, Safaricom issued a similar statement to that effect. Safaricom waived fees on its mobile money transfer service M-Pesa, for all transactions below Ksh1,000 ($10).
According to Prasanta Das Sarma, the Managing Director of Airtel Kenya, in a press statement, this was done in response to the Kenyan President’s appeal to mobile money operators to consider reducing mobile money transaction costs to customers.
Starting from March 17, 2020, Airtel Kenya will waive person to person transaction fees for Airtel Money customers across all bands for the next 90 days. Further to this, in boosting and supporting the SME and micro business enterprise, together with the Central Bank of Kenya, we have also revised the transaction limits for mobile money transaction as follows;
- The daily transaction limit for mobile money has been increased from Ksh. 70,000 to Ksh. 150,000
- Daily limit for mobile money transactions from Ksh 140,000 to Ksh 3000,000
- Mobile Money wallet balance limit increased from Ksh 140,000 to Ksh 3000,000
- The current tariff for mobile money transactions fro Ksh 70,000 will apply for transactions up to Ksh 150,000
- Charges waived for transfers from Airtel Money wallet to the bank account.
Airtel says it has set up a toll free line 719 in partnership with the government, where all customers can now access information and updates on the COVID-19.
