Safaricom Targets Low-Income Users in First Ever M-PESA Tariff Reduction

Transaction value limits lowered to Sh10 as firm reviews core tariff bands in aggressive pursuit of its financial inclusion agenda March 1, 2012…Global leader in mobile money services, Safaricom has today announced a major tariff review of its M-PESA service, the first since the service was launched in 2007. In a move geared towards increasing the number of Kenyans with access to basic financial services, registered M-PESA customers will now be able to send and receive amounts as low as Ksh10 with effect from today, against a previous limit of Ksh50, with charges for transfers within this band pegged at Ksh3. M-PESA customers can also now make micro-payments from as low as Ksh10 to Sh49 per month. At the same time, the company has lowered the transaction fees for its most popular value band which lies between Ksh101 and ksh500.The charge for this band, which accounts for over a quarter of all the transactions on the M-PESA platform, has been reduced from Ksh30 to Ksh25, in a move aimed at stimulating more transactions within the band. Citing customer feedback, Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said: "It was very clear to us when we undertook this tariff review that we were in a unique position to extend the benefits of financial inclusion to more Kenyans, particularly those in lower income groups who rely very heavily on our service." He added, "We are particularly conscious of the fact that about 7 in 10 adults in Kenya now have access to some form of mobile money service and as the pioneers in this space, we have a specific role to ensure that our service remains affordable to everyone." The M-PESA tariff review also sees the introduction of 11 new tariff bands in a bid to rationalise the previous disparities between transaction amounts and charges levied for the same. Commenting on this revision, Mr Collymore stated, "The good news is that we have introduced lower charges for smaller transactions but at the same time we have had to increase the charges levied on the bigger amounts being transferred. This is motivated, in large part, by the need to give greater incentives to our growing agent network to embrace higher value transactions, while improving overall efficiency for our customers, particularly float availability." A detailed publication of the revised M-PESA tariffs is available on the company's website www.safaricom.co.ke.

Transaction value limits lowered to Sh10 as firm reviews core tariff bands in aggressive pursuit of its financial inclusion agenda March 1, 2012…Global leader in mobile money services, Safaricom has today announced a major tariff review of its M-PESA service, the first since the service was launched in 2007. In a move geared towards increasing the number of Kenyans with access to basic financial services, registered M-PESA customers will now be able to send and receive amounts as low as Ksh10 with effect from today, against a previous limit of Ksh50, with charges for transfers within this band pegged at Ksh3. M-PESA customers can also now make micro-payments from as low as Ksh10 to Sh49 per month. At the same time, the company has lowered the transaction fees for its most popular value band which lies between Ksh101 and ksh500.The charge for this band, which accounts for over a quarter of all the transactions on the M-PESA platform, has been reduced from Ksh30 to Ksh25, in a move aimed at stimulating more transactions within the band. Citing customer feedback, Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said: "It was very clear to us when we undertook this tariff review that we were in a unique position to extend the benefits of financial inclusion to more Kenyans, particularly those in lower income groups who rely very heavily on our service." He added, "We are particularly conscious of the fact that about 7 in 10 adults in Kenya now have access to some form of mobile money service and as the pioneers in this space, we have a specific role to ensure that our service remains affordable to everyone." The M-PESA tariff review also sees the introduction of 11 new tariff bands in a bid to rationalise the previous disparities between transaction amounts and charges levied for the same. Commenting on this revision, Mr Collymore stated, "The good news is that we have introduced lower charges for smaller transactions but at the same time we have had to increase the charges levied on the bigger amounts being transferred. This is motivated, in large part, by the need to give greater incentives to our growing agent network to embrace higher value transactions, while improving overall efficiency for our customers, particularly float availability." A detailed publication of the revised M-PESA tariffs is available on the company's website www.safaricom.co.ke.