Search Results for: CBK
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News
CBK’s Fee Cap Gambit: Cheaper Mobile Money for Kenyans, or a Slow Squeeze on M-Pesa’s Golden Engine?
For nearly two decades, M-Pesa has operated like essential infrastructure and untouchable monopoly at the same time — a utility…
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News
CBK Digital Fraud Compensation Plan Could Finally Force Telcos and Banks to Refund Scam Victims — Whether They Like It or Not
Kenya’s fintech revolution has long been celebrated for its ingenuity — a country where almost everyone can send money across…
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News
Absa Bank Kenya Appoints Former CBK Chief Mohammed Nyaoga as New Chairman
Absa Bank Kenya has tapped former Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) chairman Mohammed Nyaoga as its new board chair, effective…
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News
CBK’s KESONIA Model Explained: What Kenya’s New Loan Pricing System Means For Mobile Loans And Digital Banking
For years, borrowers have complained about the mismatch between Central Bank policy and the rates they actually face in banking…
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BUSINESS
CBK Approves New Tool to Transform Credit Data Quality in Kenya
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has officially approved the CIS ValiData tool, an innovative credit data validation and submission…
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News
Kenya Dirty Money Crackdown Intensifies with CBK-UK Treasury Partnership to Protect Financial Sector
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has partnered with the United Kingdom’s finance ministry as part of a broader Kenya…
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BUSINESS
Digital Lenders Under Scrutiny as CBK Flags Compliance Gaps in Fight Against Dirty Money
In recent years, digital lenders have become a lifeline for millions of Kenyans locked out of traditional banking. But a…
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News
M-Pesa, PesaLink, and the CBK: The Battle for Kenya’s Financial Future
Kenya has one of the most dynamic financial systems in the world but there’s something about to change – the…
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News
CBK Licenses 7 More Digital Credit Providers
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has issued operating licenses to 7 new Digital Credit Providers (DCPs). This now brings…
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News
CBK approves LemFi’s Remittance to Kenya in partnership with Flex Money Transfer
LemFi, the cross-border payment solution that enables the diaspora community to send and receive money back home has received additional…
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News
CBK to launch DhowCSD, a digital platform for purchase of Treasury Bills and Bonds
Kenyans will from next month be able to buy government securities from a digital platform known as DhowCSD. The system…
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News
Kenyan Senate is spearheading talks with CBK to legalize crypto
The Kenyan Senate has taken a proactive step to engage the Central Bank in discussions that could see the country…
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News
CBK licenses 12 more digital lenders
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has granted operating licenses to an additional 12 Digital Credit Providers (DCPs), bringing the…
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News
Digital lenders claim CBK is delaying issuance of licenses
Digital lenders have raised concerns over delays in obtaining operational licences from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). Business Daily…
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News
Google directs digital loan apps to obtain CBK license before appearing on Play Store
The new regulations by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) requiring proper registration of all digital loan apps has gotten…
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News
CBK kick-starts process to remove 4.2 million digital borrowers from CRB
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has directed financial institutions to work with more than four million Kenyans who have…
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News
CBK announces split of Airtel Money from Airtel Networks
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on Tuesday announced the successful separation and transfer of Airtel money from its mobile…
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News
CBK releases list of companies licensed to offer digital loans in Kenya
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has released a list of companies licensed to operate as Digital Credit Providers (DCPs)…
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BUSINESS
CBK grants digital payments provider DPO Group a PSP license to operate in Kenya
African digital payments provider DPO Group Kenya has received official approval from the Central Bank of Kenya to operate as…
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Startups
CBK grants Virtual Pay International a PSP License to operate in Kenya
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has granted Virtual Pay International Limited a license to operate as a Payment Service…
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News
CBK Governor Says Flutterwave is Not Licensed To Operate In Kenya
The Governor of the Central Bank Of Kenya (CBK), Dr Patrick Njoroge has said that fintech companies Flutterwave and Chipper…
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News
Our position on cryptocurrencies has not changed, CBK Governor says
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Patrick Njoroge has insisted that the bank’s position on the use of cryptocurrencies…
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BUSINESS
CBK Blocks over 300 Mobile Lenders from Listing Defaulters at CRBs
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has barred over 337 unregulated digital and credit-only lenders from listing loan defaulters at…
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BUSINESS
Banks to start blacklisting loan defaulters at CRBs after CBK’s Nod
Since Kenya reported the first case of Covid-19 in March, several measures were hastily put in place to cushion citizens…
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News
Digital Lenders Oppose CBK’s Plans to Regulate Mobile Loan Interest Rates
As part of the Central Bank of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the banking regulator is about to be given power…
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BUSINESS
CBK Seeks to Regulate Digital Lenders in Kenya in new Proposed Bill
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) seeks to regulate mobile lending loan rates in a new bill proposed to parliament.…
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News
Safaricom Wanted CBK To Limit Free M-PESA Transfers To 5 Per Day After Massive Losses
Free M-PESA cash transfers for transactions less than Ksh 1000 is very helpful. It’s a measure put forward by the…
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BUSINESS
In Kenya’s Bid to Split M-Pesa, Vodacom Confronts the Limits of Its Reach
Vodacom Group has ruled out separating M-Pesa from Safaricom, defying pressure from Kenya’s central bank and a growing chorus of…
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News
Fuliza, Kamilisha, and the New Logic of Credit in Kenya’s Always-On Mobile Economy
Kenya’s appetite for quick credit has turned digital overdrafts into a financial mainstay. What began as a mobile money convenience…
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News
How a Tax Tribunal Just Reshaped Kenya’s Digital Money Rail
Kenya’s payments infrastructure has always worked behind the scenes — a lattice of connections between banks, card networks, and mobile…
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TRENDING
KCB Group to Acquire Stake in Fintech Firm Pesapal, Marking Second Major Fintech Investment in 8 Months
KCB Group Plc has announced that it has signed a deal to acquire a minority stake in Pesapal Limited, a…
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BUSINESS
Co-op Bank Joins Kenya’s Digital Overdraft Race With Kamilisha
When the Co-operative Bank of Kenya rolled out its new overdraft product, Kamilisha, it wasn’t just launching another loan facility.…
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BUSINESS
Family Bank to List on NSE in 2026 After Shareholder Approval
Family Bank shareholders on Monday approved the lender’s plan to list on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), a strategic move…
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News
Stanbic–NCBA Merger Talks Stir Fresh Jitters Across Kenya’s Banking Sector
In a deal that could rearrange familiar ground, Bloomberg reports that Standard Bank’s Kenyan unit has opened formal negotiations to…
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News
Kenya’s Microfinance Loan Rules Put Industry in Survival Mode
Microfinance banks in Kenya were designed to fill a gap. They were supposed to serve the market that traditional banks…
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News
Kenya’s New Loan Pricing Model: What KESONIA Means for Borrowers, Banks, and the Cost of Credit
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has put commercial banks on notice: stop hiding behind excuses and start lowering lending…
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News
Digital Lending in Kenya Thrives but Microloans Under Sh1,000 Show Skyrocketing Default Rates
Kenya’s digital lending boom has opened doors for millions, but the smallest loans are proving the hardest to recover. Central…
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News
Cyber Fraud in Kenyan Banks Surges to Sh1.59 Billion as Hackers Exploit Mobile Banking
Kenya’s reputation as a trailblazer in mobile money is under fresh scrutiny. Last year, hackers siphoned a record Sh1.59 billion…
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News
Kenya and Nigeria Confront Digital Lending Risks with Contrasting Rules
Digital lending has exploded across Africa, offering instant credit through mobile phones to households, students, and small businesses. But the…
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BUSINESS
Kenya Licenses 27 New Digital Lenders
Kenya’s Central Bank (CBK) has announced the licensing of an additional 27 Digital Credit Providers (DCPs), bringing the total number…
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News
Digital Lenders Push for Higher Licensing Threshold to Filter Speculators
A group of Kenya’s digital lenders is calling on the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to raise the licensing threshold…
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News
ODPC Moves to Revoke Licences of Rogue Digital Lenders Kenya Over Data Abuse
For many Kenyans, digital loans have become a lifeline—quick money for medical bills, school fees, or simply making it to…
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News
Farmers Abandon Hustler Fund as Banks and Fuliza Become the New Go-To Credit Sources
Kenyan farmers are shifting away from the government-backed Hustler Fund and microfinance lenders, turning instead to banks and digital loans…
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News
Why Cybersecurity Is No Longer Optional in Africa’s Mobile‑First Economy
As Africa races ahead in its digital transformation, mobile devices have become the primary access point for banking, health services,…
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News
Kenya’s Crypto Regulator Dispute Deepens as Key Players Pull Back
Kenya’s attempt to establish a dedicated crypto regulator is facing serious pushback — even before it launches. The proposed Virtual…
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BUSINESS
From OTP Bypass to Crypto Cash-Out: How the Kenyan Bank IT System Fraud Unfolded Without Detection
It reads like a cybercrime thriller — but for one unnamed Kenyan bank, it was a costly reality. In a…
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BUSINESS
Kenya Money Laundering Crackdown Triggers Global Risk Alarm as Fintech, Trade Face Fallout
Kenya is facing unprecedented scrutiny over a massive surge in suspicious financial activity, with Sh6.97 trillion flagged in just three…
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BUSINESS
How AI Credit Risk Scoring in Kenya Is Changing Who Gets Loans and How Fast
AI credit risk scoring in Kenya is fast becoming the leading application of artificial intelligence in the country’s banking sector,…
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BUSINESS
Zenith Bank Eyes Kenya Market Entry Amid Rising Capital Pressures
Nigeria’s Zenith Bank is laying the groundwork for a bold East African expansion, with confidential talks underway to acquire a…
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BUSINESS
Banks Write Off SME Loans Worth Sh8.8 Billion as Kenya’s Small Businesses Collapse Under High Interest Rates
By the time 2024 closed, over 95,000 loan accounts held by Kenya’s small businesses (SMEs) had disappeared—wiped clean from the…
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News
Why Kenya Is on the EU Watchlist and What It Means for Africa’s Financial, Tech, and Trade Future
The European Union has added Kenya to its watchlist of high-risk third countries, signaling that the bloc views the country’s…
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News
Is M-Pesa 2.0 Upgrade Enough to Keep Airtel Money at Bay? Here’s What Safaricom’s $309M Bet Means
Making its boldest move with M-Pesa 2.0 upgrade, Safaricom, however, is investing over $309 million annually to transform the mobile…
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BUSINESS
Cash is still King: CDMs and Self-Service Banking Rise in Kenya
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you are unable to pay for a product or service, simply…
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News
Kenya VASP Bill 2025 vs U.S. DeFi Repeal: Two Diverging Paths for Crypto Regulation
In a historic moment for international crypto regulation, U.S. President Donald Trump has just signed off on a resolution to…
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News
Kenya’s Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill 2025: Progressive Step or Potential Overregulation
As cryptocurrency adoption continues to surge across the globe, Kenya with its technology-savvy citizens and a fast-growing digital economy has…
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News
Kenya Moves to Regulate Crypto With a New Virtual Asset Bill
Kenya is set to usher in new laws for digital assets regulations with the introduction of the Virtual Asset Service…
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News
Stablecoin Regulation in Kenya: How New Rules Could Reshape Digital Finance
The global push for stablecoin regulation is reshaping financial landscapes, and Kenya is no exception. As discussions around stablecoin regulation…
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News
Airtel Money Google Play Integration: Zero-Fee App Payments Now Live!
Airtel Money Google Play integration is now available and will allow Airtel Money customers in Kenya to conveniently, safely, and…
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BUSINESS
Lipa Later and Odyssey Capital Insolvency: A Turning Point for Kenya’s Fintech Industry?
Kenya’s fintech industry is headed for a seismic change after the announcement of Lipa Later and Odyssey Capital’s insolvency. Together,…
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News
NFT Fundraising in Kenya: A Legal Loophole or the Future of Startup Capital?
In an unprecedented declaration, the Commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Policy (SEC) – Hester Peirce – hinted that…
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BUSINESS
Kenyan Banks Reject KRA’s System Integration Mandate
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is facing strong resistance from Kenyan banks in its push to integrate the tax system…
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News
Kenya to Host 61st AERC Plenary, Focusing on Africa’s FinTech Revolution
Kenya will host the 61st Biannual Plenary Session on the FinTech Revolution in Africa on December 1st, 2024. The plenary…
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News
Mobile Money Subscriptions in Kenya Rise to 38.7 Million
Mobile money subscriptions in Kenya have grown to 38.7 million, translating to a penetration rate of 75%. This is according…
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News
Visa cardholders to get a chance to win Carrefour Shopping Discounts
Visa has partnered with Carrefour to offer Visa Cardholders who shop on the weekends a chance to win exclusive discounts…
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News
dLocal secures remittance services partnership with KCB Bank
dLocal KCB Partnership: More than a year after securing payment service provider licences from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK)…
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Startups
LemFi receives regulatory approval to offer remittance services in Kenya in partnership with Wapi Pay
LemFi, the cross-border payment solution that enables the diaspora community to send and receive money back home has received approval…
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News
Airtel removes withdrawal code when receiving money in Kenya
Airtel Money customers can now receive money directly into their mobile money wallet from any network without the withdrawal code…
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News
Kenya Takes Step Towards Regulating Cryptocurrencies
Kenyan parliament has directed the Blockchain Association of Kenya (BAK) to prepare the first draft of the Crypto Bill, also…
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News
Financial Literacy Among Kenyan Gen Z and Millennials Could Lead to More Growth in Online Trading
In a previous article, we featured an interview with Eva Ngigi-Sarwari, Visa’s acting General Manager and Country Manager for Kenya,…
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BUSINESS
A Step-by-Step Guide: How to Buy Safaricom Shares in Kenya
Safaricom PLC is a publicly traded company whose headquarters are in Nairobi, Kenya and which provides mobile network services. Safaricom…
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News
Fintech startup Sendwave targets Kenyans in the US with new banking product
Fintech startup Sendwave has unveiled a new product that will allow users to earn interest and pay reduced fees on…
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BUSINESS
Airtel Money Per Transaction Limit Increased to KES 250,000.
Mobile money service provider Airtel Money has revised its per transaction limit to KES 250,000 from the previous KES 150,000…
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News
[Kenya] Visa working with local banks to roll out Tap To Pay payment services
Tap To Pay is a concept that Kenyans have not really been accustomed to. As much as customers are gradually…
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News
Airtel Money transaction limits also increased
Kenya’s second-largest telco Airtel has also announced that it has received approval from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to…
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News
Safaricom’s interest-free M-Pesa credit service goes live
Safaricom has finally rolled out Faraja, the interest-free service targeting customers who purchase goods via Lipa Na M-pesa. Faraja will…
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News
KCB Bank bets on Tap To Pay to deepen uptake of cashless payments in Kenya
Tap To Pay is a concept that Kenyans have not really been accustomed to. As much as customers are gradually…
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News
Uruguayan fintech firm dLocal receives regulatory approval to operate in Kenya
Uruguayan fintech dLocal on Tuesday announced that the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) had granted it a payment service license…
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News
Kenya rolls out a QR code standard for facilitating digital payments
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on Wednesday unveiled the Kenya Quick Response (QR) Code Standard 2023. The QR code…
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News
Two firms fined Ksh.5 million by ODPC for abusing customers personal data
The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) has issued a penalty notice against two companies, digital credit provider, Whitepath…
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News
Google now prohibits personal loan apps from accessing user data
Google has recently made great efforts to protect consumer interests on Play Store, in an effort to comply with emerging…
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News
Google takes down hundreds of Kenyan loan apps from Play Store
Google has removed hundreds of Kenyan-focused loan apps from Play Store, in compliance with the new digital lenders policy which…
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News
Tala loan disbursement hit Sh240 billion in eight years
Tala, one of Kenya’s most popular digital credit providers has revealed that it disbursed 3.5 million loans worth Sh240 billion…
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News
I&M Bank suspends bank to M-PESA transaction charges
I&M Bank has today announced that it will not be charging its customers for transferring money from its digital banking platform…
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News
[Kenya] Government drops fraud charges against Nigerian fintech Flutterwave
The Kenyan government has dropped charges of financial impropriety against Flutterwave Inc. This is according to a new report by…
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News
Bank to mobile charges are back as High Court declines to extend order
Safaricom will continue to charge its customers transfer fees for transactions between banks and mobile wallets after the High Court…
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News
Mikhail Marchenko: Major fintech trends that will affect online businesses in 2023
Digitalization and technological achievements, which have been observed in the African region for the past decade, have sped up the…
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News
Nigeria is working on a law recognizing cryptocurrency as legal tender
Nigeria’s House of Representatives is working on a law that may soon recognize cryptocurrency as legal tender, alongside other forms…
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News
Digital Lending App Zenka Has Written Off Sh166 Million Defaulted Loans
Just a week after the Central Bank of Kenya(CBK) directed digital lenders to work with loan defaulters in helping them…
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News
KRA seeks to tax those who trade cryptocurrencies in a new Bill
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is seeking to introduce taxation on cryptocurrencies and digital wallets. Through the Capital Markets (Amendment)…
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News
40 digital lenders in Kenya being probed over misuse of personal data
The Office of Data Protection Commission (ODPC) is investigating 40 digital lenders over allegations of abuse of personal data. The…
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BUSINESS
Unregulated digital lenders in Kenya directed to cease operations
Kenya is home to more than 200 digital lenders that are providing people with easy access to loans of various…
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News
Kenyan Court Freezes Another Sh400.6 Million Belonging to Flutterwave
Nigerian fintech Flutterwave is once again in the Kenyan courts for the wrong reasons. Early Tuesday, the High Court of…
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News
American fintech UMBA acquires majority stake in Kenya’s Daraja Microfinance
UMBA, a U.S-based fintech whose investments spread to emerging markets has acquired a majority stake in Daraja, a Kenyan deposit-taking…
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News
Flutterwave responds to accusations of operating without a license in Kenya
After reports emerged that Nigerian fintech startup Flutterwave was operating without a license in Kenya, the company has sent out…
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News
Kenya’s digital insurer mTek hits 65k registered users since launching in 2020
The level of insurance penetration in Kenya is way below the global average. According to a 2020 report by the…
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Startups
Kenyan Court Freezes Flutterwave’s Bank Accounts Over Money Laundering Allegations
Nigerian unicorn fintech Flutterwave has lately been in the news for both good and bad reasons, but the unflattering reasons…
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News
4.8 million people in Kenya own cryptocurrency, report
Cryptocurrency adoption has been growing rapidly in Kenya over the past few years. In fact, the country is one of…
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COLUMNS
LEON KIPTUM: Kenya’s economy could benefit from fintech growth and innovation
Financial technology (Fintech) has been a key driver of growth in the financial services sector in the face of the…
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BUSINESS
Banking Sector Contributed 27% of All Corporate Taxes Paid in Kenya in 2020 and 2019
The banking industry contributed 27 percent of all corporate taxes paid in Kenya in 2020 and 2019 even as the…
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News
98% of Equity’s transactions in Q1 were on digital platforms
98% of all Equity Bank’s transactions are on digital platforms according to the bank’s 2021 Q1 results released recently. EazzyNet,…
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News
Digital lenders in Kenya are still abusing data protection laws
Digital lenders continued to harass defaulters and violate their consumer data rights. This is according to Ajua’s Quarter 1 2021…
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