Safaricom Reduction in Paybill Charges Enforced

The reduction of Safaricom paybill charges for money transactions between customers and businesses takes effect from January 1, 2023.

In the new tariffs, customers paying between Sh100 and Sh500 in paybill charges will now be charged Sh4, down from Sh23.

Through a statement released on Sunday, 1 January Safaricom noted that they have reduced the charges by 47 percent.

“We would like to notify our valued customers and partners of the reduction in charges by an average of 47 percent for M-PESA paybills and an average of 61 percent for Business to customer charges,” reads the notice in part.

We would like to notify our valued customers and partners on the reduction in charges by an average of 47% for M-PESA paybills and an average of 61% for Business to customer charges. pic.twitter.com/P7dTQikstx

— Safaricom PLC (@SafaricomPLC) December 31, 2022

Moreover, payments between Sh500 and Sh1,000 will now cost Sh9, down from Sh23 while those between Sh50,000 and Sh150,000 will cost Sh105, down from Sh210.

Likewise, businesses sending money to customers will be charged Sh5 for payments between Sh100 and Sh1,500, as compared to the current Sh15.27 whereas payments between Sh20,000 and Sh150,000 will cost Sh12, down from Sh22.4.

Nonetheless, the reduction of Paybill charges has come at a time when many businesses have switched to using the platform after dropping the Lipa Na M-Pesa Buy-Goods payment option that eats into their incomes.

Also Read: Safaricom Announces More Than 50% Reduction on Paybill Prices

Safaricom PLC further noted that the new tariffs are also applicable to bank charges that were previously zero-rated.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) announced the reinstatement of charges for transactions between mobile money wallets and bank accounts two weeks ago.

This development came after negotiation with lenders and mobile money payment firms.

Furthermore, CBK waived the charges in March 2020 as part of measures put in place by the government to facilitate the use of mobile money to prevent the spread of Covid-19.