Customers Accuse Spire Bank Of Collapsed App To Avoid CBK’s Waived Charges

In a meeting between the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Kenyan commercial banks, the banks agreed to waive transaction fees from bank account to M-Pesa, mobile transactions, and balance inquiry.

The move by the CBK and banks was aimed at encouraging Kenyans to adapt to the use of the cashless mode of transaction and avoid the use of banknotes which were said to be capable of aiding in the spread of Coronavirus.

The move was also a breather to millions of customers who would transfer cash to their mobile phones from the comfort of their homes without having to visit the banking halls.

Those who bank with Spire Bank received the following encouraging message:

But on Monday, their GoMobile app, the one that most of their customers use to transact seemed to have “collapsed” and by the time of writing this story, 4 days later, it was still unavailable. On Monday, customers received the following message:

Since then, those who visit the app are not able to even log in with the following message displayed:

Those who call the bank are told to either use their Debit cards or internet banking. Since most customers do not have Debit cards, the only available option is to transact over the counter.

Is it possible that the bank has deliberately delayed/refused to restore the app to “encourage customers” to use the over the counter transaction, hence, in the process charge them and avoid the free transaction via the app to M-Pesa?

Is the CBK following up to see if the cashless drive is actually being adhered to by all the commercial banks bank sure that the “online system failure” is genuine? Are we serious about encouraging Kenyans to go cashless?

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