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Coronavirus: Safaricom waives sending fees for M-Pesa transactions below Sh1,000


Safaricom has offered its subscribers an opportunity to transact on their mobile money transfer service M-Pesa for free, following a presidential directive on measures being taken to tame the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

In a statement released yesterday, the country’s largest telecommunications company chairman Micheal Joseph announced that M-Pesa users will be allowed to send up to Sh1,000 on the platform for free.

This, Joseph added, will help in reducing the risk of spreading the coronavirus through physical handling of cash.

The announcement takes effect on March 16 and will extend for 90 days.

“All person to person transactions below Sh1,000 will be free. This means that from tomorrow morning, M-pesa users will be able to send any amount below Sh1000 for free for over 90 days,” the statement read in part.

And in a related development, Safaricom has also approved the increase of M-Pesa transaction limits from Sh70,000 to Sh150,000 to cater to small and microbusiness enterprises (SMEs).

Subscribers will also be able to transact upto Sh300,000 up from the current limit of Sh140,000 and hold up to Sh300,000 in their M-Pesa accounts.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday urged mobile service providers and banks to consider reducing the cost of using mobile money to enhance the use of cashless payments as the country tackles the transmission of Covid-19.