Treasury To Reduce M-Pesa Charges

The treasury is preparing to work on reducing the M-Pesa charges, a move that will see Safaricom make losses and will be a retrieve for many Kenyans.

Speaking to the Senate, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani said there was need to make M-Pesa cheaper as the service is used by almost all Kenyans. He said his Ministry was aware of the concerns of Kenyan’s on the rise of M-Pesa services and call rates.

Safaricom is the biggest telecom service provider in Kenya and dwarfs the other two competitors. Other operators have complained that Safaricom enjoys monopoly and serves 90% of Kenya’s telecommunication services. However, Safaricom has refuted those claims.

M-Pesa is mostly used by Kenyans to transfer money from one person to another. The charges have overtaken voice mails, messages and call services offered by the company. The M-Pesa service has since grown from mobile money transfer to giving out loans through the M-Shwari and KCB M-Pesa services.