Safaricom hits banks with new M-Pesa fees

Safaricom has announced a rate increase on bank to third party transfer services on its mobile money transfer services, citing the need to discourage customers over security concerns.

The enhanced rates will come to effect on December 1, 2015 with the firm hoping that bank customers would prefer withdrawing funds from their accounts to their phones, before transferring the same to the intended beneficiaries. “This new arrangement has to some level contributed to the raised risk profile of the bank to M-Pesa functionality especially in the case where a transaction was made under compromised or erroneous circumstances,” Safaricom has said.