Central Bank of Kenya Endorses the Mobile Interoperability

The Central Bank of Kenya has endorsed the implementation of the interoperability of mobile phone financial services that took effect from Tuesday.

In a statement sent to newsrooms, CBK says that the move will see customers transfer funds across networks in real time, at low cost, and in a secure environment.

“The benefits of “wallet-to-wallet” interoperability to customers will be immediate and significant. Customers wishing to transfer money across networks will avoid the cost and inconvenience of needing to reload or withdraw money through network agents. Customers’ mobile wallets will reflect funds immediately these are received, regardless of the network from which these funds are sent,” read the statement from CBK.

With the complete roll out of the platforms, customers will now be able to withdraw the money in their wallets from the agents on their network, as is currently.

According to CBK, the following are crucial principles for interoperability:

• Cost – 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.
• Security – mobile money operators will ensure that the interfaces between them are as secure as possible
• Efficiency – transactions will be reflected in customers’ mobile wallets without undue delay. Interoperability is another significant milestone for Kenya’s mobile money

It will play an important role in enhancing the usage of mobile money services, thereby deepening financial access. CBK has licensed three Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) under the National Payment System (NPS) Act: Safaricom Plc, Airtel Networks Kenya Limited, and Telkom Kenya Limited.

Under NPS regulations, the MNOs are required to use payment systems capable of being interoperable with other payment systems. Mobile money subscriber accounts have grown to 37.8 million in January 2018.

Mobile money transactions in January 2018 were valued at Ksh.323.0 billion in 1.4 billion transactions. While encouraging innovation, CBK will continue to foster safety and efficiency in the national payment system.