By Bernard Mulwa-I&M Bank has today announced a waiver of transaction charges from its digital banking platform I&M On The Go (OTG) to mobile money wallets.
The waiver will make I&M Bank the first lender in Kenya to officially offer zero fees for Bank to M-PESA and Airtel Money transactions following its reintroduction by the Central Bank of Kenya in January 2023 with plans underway to include T-Kash transactions for Telkom users.
The Central bank of Kenya last year announced the reinstatement of charges on transfer of money between bank accounts and mobile money wallets in a move that will offer relief for commercial banks that have for months decried the regulator’s reluctance to reinstate the fees.
The charges were waived on March 16, 2020 as part of the emergency to facilitate the use of mobile money at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The apex bank revealed that the waiver resulted in a significant expansion of the payment ecosystem, noting that between March 2020 and October 2022, the number of Kenyans actively using mobile money increased by over 6.2 million.
Speaking during the press conference, I&M’s General Manager for Digital Business, Mr. Michael Mwangi said, “As part of our approach to service delivery, recent customer feedback showed that as much as our transaction rates are favourable, there was an opportunity to review our policies on bank to mobile money wallet charges for the digitally active customer. We believe this move will offer new and existing customers a huge relief during tough economic times and encourage more customers to transact on mobile,” Mr. Mwangi further said the payment ecosystem between mobile money wallets and bank accounts expanded significantly when the transaction charges were waived in March 2020 because of the COVID pandemic emergency measures.
However, the reintroduction of the charges by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) in December 2022, albeit at significantly reduced rates of up to 61%, has increased the cost of living for Kenyans and I&M Bank Kenya is meeting consumer needs with zero fees on Bank to Mobile Money Wallet transfers.
“A key focus for the bank since the launch of our current iMara 2.0 strategy is to enhance our digital banking solutions to meet the needs of our customers. We look forward to seeing these numbers grow with digital transactions gaining favour among our digitally active customers,” concluded Mr. Mwangi.
