Safaricom will now charge sending money to a registered Airtel Money subscriber a similar amount as a registered M-Pesa user.
Safaricom also increases transaction limit across networks to Sh70,000
Previously, Safaricom labelled its rivals as non-registered users, meaning the cash transferred from its network to Airtel and Telkom attracted higher charges.
Cross-network money transfer charges have fallen by up to 75 per cent after interoperability went live Tuesday between Safaricom and Airtel.
Transaction fees between the two mobile money wallets is down by between 40 per cent and 75 per cent compared to what was previously charged.
Safaricom will now charge sending money to a registered Airtel Money subscriber a similar amount as a registered M-Pesa user.
Airtel will also lower its cross-network fees with the reduced charges being part of the approval by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
“The price for transferring money out of the network will be no higher than that of transferring money within the network. There will also be no interchange fees,” said the CBK in a statement Tuesday.
Safaricom has also increased the limit of money sent across networks to a maximum Sh70,000 from Sh35,000.
Sending Sh1,100 from Airtel Money to M-Pesa now costs Sh15 compared to the previous Sh25, representing a 40 per cent drop.
Sending the same amount from M-Pesa to Airtel money will cost Sh25 compared to the previous Sh48, reflecting a 47.9 per cent drop.
The cost of transferring between Sh101 and Sh500 from M-Pesa to Airtel Money will drop 75 per cent to Sh11 from the previous Sh44.
Previously, Safaricom labelled its rivals as non-registered users, meaning the cash transferred from its network to Airtel and Telkom attracted higher charges.
Cross-network charges. GRAPHIC | STANSLOUS MANTHI
On M-Pesa, subscribers were paying between Sh44 to Sh303 to send up to a maximum Sh35,000, but they will now pay between Sh11 and Sh110 for a maximum Sh70,000 transaction.
Airtel users will be charged between Sh7 and Sh66 to withdraw between Sh101 and Sh70, 000, making it cross-network charges cheaper than rival M-Pesa.
Telkom will join the cross-network plan later.
The cross-network transfers will help level the market, Information, Communication and Technology Minister Joe Mucheru said Monday.
Receive an SMS
Previously, a customer would receive an SMS from another network notifying them that money had been sent.
They would then have to look for an agent of the network from which the money was sent to withdraw and then deposit the same into their own wallet.
Airtel CEO, Prasanta Das Sarma, said the previous regime was a barrier to the use of mobile money transfer across networks.
M-Pesa controls about 80 per cent of the 28 million subscriptions. Airtel Money has a 5.8 per cent market share.
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