The daily average number of mobile money transactions grew after the Central Bank of Kenya and mobile money service providers introduced transaction fees waivers and increased the daily transfer limits. Data from CBK show that the average number of daily transactions increased by 9.4% from 5.27 million in March before CBK intervention to 5.81 million in April and May.

Daily transactions between KSh 101 – 500 and KSh 501 – KSh 1000 grew the most, at 70% and 97%, respectively. CBK attributes the change to the waiver of charges for transactions below 1000, which encouraged more mobile money transactions.

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Additionally, the jump in the number of daily mobile money transactions is attributed to the increase in transaction limits from KSh70,000 to KSh150,000.

“The new Ksh 70,001 – Ksh 150,000 band recorded an average of 5,457 daily transactions worth Ksh 564.48 million. This justifies the introduction of the higher limit for mobile money as part of the emergency measures,” the CBK report read.

The waiver for transaction charges for mobile money transfers below KSh 1,000 also boosted transactions across wallets and banks. The volume of Bank to E-wallet transactions between KSh 1,001 – 10,000 grew significantly by 11.7% to 994,454 weekly transactions. Similarly, the volume of transactions from E-wallets to Banks for the band grew by 24.8% to 316,220 weekly transactions.

The increase in mobile money transfers is a positive indicator of the adoption of digital money services and a shift from the use of physical cash. However, the permanence of the behavior will be put to test after June 30, the date the transaction fee waivers come to an end.

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