Bank customers are paying more to transfer cash to Airtel Money compared to M-Pesa on most transaction bands.
The lenders resumed charging on bank-to-mobile cash transfers on Sunday, slashing the fees substantially compared to the pre-pandemic era as part of an agreement with the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
An analysis of the new tariffs sent to customers shows that banks have set higher fees on most transfers to Airtel Money compared to M-Pesa.
Airtel has a flat fee of Sh10 on nearly all the bands while Safaricom has a graduated charge.
Transfers to Airtel wallets are cheaper at the highest value bands, including the maximum transfer of Sh150,000.
The divergence in charges to the two mobile money platforms is seen in the tariffs sent out by multiple banks including Equity Bank Kenya, National Bank of Kenya and Family Bank.
Equity Bank, for instance, is charging between Sh1 and Sh2 more for money sent to Airtel wallets across most of the various bands.
The lender charges Sh10 for a customer remitting Sh101 to Sh500 to M-Pesa while similar transactions to an Airtel wallet incurs a fee of Sh11.
It is only at the highest value band –Sh20,001 to Sh150,000— that sending money to Airtel is cheaper by Sh2 to stand at Sh65.
For the Sh5,001 to Sh7,500 band, the fee is the same for the two mobile platforms at Sh55.
It is also flat at Sh65 for those transferring between Sh7,501 and Sh20,000.
M-Pesa has the largest market share in the mobile money business at more than 90 per cent of the value transacted. Airtel is second while Telkom Kenya’s T-Kash has a negligible market share.
Biggest beneficiaries
The reinstatement of charges of bank-to-mobile transfers is set to lift the earnings of the lenders and the telcos, with Safaricom and the top retail banks being the biggest beneficiaries.
Equity Bank, KCB, Co-operative Bank and NCBA have millions of customers in the country that regularly use mobile banking services.
Safaricom and the banks lost billions of shillings during the time when the charges were suspended to boost the uptake of cashless transactions and offer financial relief to households in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
