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Mobile money transactions to cost you more as Safaricom, announces new tariffs


It will now cost the ordinary citizen more to transact on M-Pesa after Safaricom released new tariffs which will be effective as from Sunday, July 1.

This comes after the government proposed a two per cent increase on the excise duty charged on service providers.

“Pursuant to the Finance Bill, 2018 and the Provisional Collection of Taxes and Duties Act, we have made the following adjustments to our M-Pesa tariffs,” read in part the notice by Safaricom in Saturday Nation.

Withdrawal of amount between Sh501 and Sh2,500 from M-Pesa Agent will now cost Sh28 up from Sh27. Withdrawing between Sh2, 501 and Sh3, 500 which was previously Sh49 will now cost Sh50.

The same Sh1 increase also applies to withdrawals between Sh3, 501 and Sh5, 000 which will now cost Sh67.

Further, withdrawing between Sh5, 001 and Sh7,500 and Sh7,501 and Sh10, 000 will now cost Sh2 more up from Sh82 and Sh110 to Sh84 and Sh112 respectively.

A Sh3 increase has been slapped on transactions between Sh10, 001 and Sh15, 000 which will now stand at Sh162; Sh4 increase on withdrawals between Sh15, 001 and Sh20, 000 up from Sh176 to Sh180.

WITHDRAWAL CHARGES

The Telco giant has joined three bands into one which will now be between Sh20,001 and Sh35,000 which will now cost Sh191 in withdrawal charges up from Sh187.

Those withdrawing huge amounts of money will, however, be relieved as a new band which will contain withdrawals between Sh35, 001 and Sh50, 000 and will cost Sh270, a relief for users as it will cost Sh5 less than previously.

Nonetheless, the last band of amounts between Sh50,001 and Sh70,000 will cost Sh300 to withdraw, down from Sh330 previously.

MPesa-Tariffs
PHOTO | DAILY NATION

Moreover, the changes have also affected transfer to M-Pesa users where Sh1 increase has been charged for transfer of amounts between Sh101 and Sh5, 000.

A Sh2 increase for those between Sh5,001 and Sh20,000 while a Sh5 increase has been applied on transfers between Sh20,001 and Sh70,000.

Users withdrawing from ATM have not been left behind as they will also dig deep into their pockets as withdrawals of amounts between Sh200 and Sh2,500 and Sh2,501 and Sh5,000 will cost Sh1 more; those between Sh5, 001 and Sh10, 000 will cost Sh2 more up to Sh112 and lastly those between Sh10, 001 and Sh20, 000 will now cost Sh197 up from Sh193 previously charged.

FREE TRANSACTIONS

Also transfers to unregistered users has also been affected by the price changes with transfers of between Sh101 and Sh2,500 up by Sh1; those between Sh2,501 and Sh3,500 by Sh2, those between Sh3,501 and Sh5,000 up by Sh3 same as those amounts between Sh5,001 and Sh7,500.

The Sh7,501 and Sh10,000 band will cough up Sh4 more, Sh5 more for amounts between Sh10,001 to Sh15,000 and Sh6 more for those between Sh15,001 and Sh20,000 as well as between Sh20,001 and Sh35,000.

Meanwhile, Safaricom has limited the number of free transactions of below Sh100 to three in a day which if exceeded then M-Pesa users will pay Sh1 for amounts between Sh1 and Sh49 and Sh2 for amounts between Sh50 and Sh100.

The Waiyaki Way-based firm has also stated that customers will not be able to withdraw less than Sh50 from agents while maximum daily transaction value that any user is allowed stands at Sh140,000 and the maximum amount per transaction is Sh70,000.

“You cannot deposit money directly into another M-Pesa customer`s account at an agent outlet,” read the notice.

At the same time, Barclays Bank also sent a message to their customers informing them that they will be adjusting their rates.

“Dear customer, in line with the 2018 budget, we will charge Excise Duty of 0.05% on bank transfers of Sh500,000 and above, while Excise Duty on mobile transfer fees will increase from the current 10% to 12%. For more details, please contact your Branch,” a brief notice from the bank read.

Additional reporting by Hilary Kimuyu