The year began with the return of transaction charges for money transfer between Ksh 101 up to Ksh 1000. The CBK guided free cash transfer initiative, first implemented in March, saw Kenyans transfer up to Ksh 1000 for free on mobile money platforms for the whole of 2020.
But with the return of transaction charges, Safaricom announced major changes to M-PESA tariffs. The new charges were “guided by the Central Bank of Kenya,” the company said in a December 2020 notice.
“…we have taken the decision to reduce our MPESA tariffs by up to 45% for lower value transaction bands,” Safaricom said.
In a message sent to its subscribers, the telco said the tariff changes would affect transactions between Ksh 101 and Ksh 7500. Thanks to the new tariffs, sending cash between Ksh 101 and Ksh 500 currently costs Ksh 6 down from Ksh 11 – a 45% reduction.
Here’s a summary of the new M-PESA tariffs for sending cash effective January 1st;
M-PESA charges for sending cash to other M-PESA Users, Pochi La Biashara and Business Till To customer effective January 2021:
| Min(KSh) | Max(KSh) | M-PESA Charges |
| 1 | 49 | FREE |
| 50 | 100 | FREE |
| 101 | 500 | 6 |
| 501 | 1,000 | 12 |
| 1,001 | 1,500 | 22 |
| 1,501 | 2,500 | 32 |
| 2,501 | 3,500 | 51 |
| 3,501 | 5,000 | 55 |
| 5,001 | 7,500 | 75 |
| 7,501 | 10,000 | 87 |
| 10,001 | 15,000 | 97 |
| 15,001 | 20,000 | 102 |
| 20,001 | 35,000 | 105 |
| 35,001 | 50,000 | 105 |
| 50,001 | 150,000 | 105 |
M-PESA Charges for Transfer of cash to other Mobile Money Users
| Min(KSh) | Max(KSh.) | M-PESA Charges |
| 1 | 49 | FREE |
| 50 | 100 | FREE |
| 101 | 500 | 6 |
| 501 | 1,000 | 12 |
| 1,001 | 1,500 | 22 |
| 1,501 | 2,500 | 32 |
| 2,501 | 3,500 | 51 |
| 3,501 | 5,000 | 55 |
| 5,001 | 7,500 | 75 |
| 7,501 | 10,000 | 87 |
| 10,001 | 15,000 | 97 |
| 15,001 | 20,000 | 102 |
| 20,001 | 35,000 | 105 |
| 35,001 | 50,000 | 105 |
| 50,001 | 150,000 | 105 |
M-PESA Charges for money transfer to Unregistered Users
| Min(KSh) | Max(KSh) | M-PESA Charges |
| 1 | 49 | N/A |
| 50 | 100 | N/A |
| 101 | 500 | 45 |
| 501 | 1,000 | 49 |
| 1,001 | 1,500 | 59 |
| 1,501 | 2,500 | 74 |
| 2,501 | 3,500 | 112 |
| 3,501 | 5,000 | 135 |
| 5,001 | 7,500 | 166 |
| 7,501 | 10,000 | 205 |
| 10,001 | 15,000 | 265 |
| 15,001 | 20,000 | 288 |
| 20,001 | 35,000 | 309 |
| 35,001 | 50,000 | N/A |
| 50,001 | 150,000 | N/A |
M-PESA Charges for Agent Withdrawal
| Min(KSh) | Max(KSh) | M-PESA Charges |
| 1 | 49 | N/A |
| 50 | 100 | 10 |
| 101 | 500 | 27 |
| 501 | 1,000 | 28 |
| 1,001 | 1,500 | 28 |
| 1,501 | 2,500 | 28 |
| 2,501 | 3,500 | 50 |
| 3,501 | 5,000 | 67 |
| 5,001 | 7,500 | 84 |
| 7,501 | 10,000 | 112 |
| 10,001 | 15,000 | 162 |
| 15,001 | 20,000 | 180 |
| 20,001 | 35,000 | 191 |
| 35,001 | 50,000 | 270 |
| 50,001 | 150,000 | 300 |
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