By Elijah Odhiambo
I&M Bank customers will no longer have to pay for bank to mobile money transaction charges as the bank has waived the charges, becoming the first bank in the country to offer free mobile money transactions.
The move by the bank to offer zero charges on Bank to mobile money comes just a month after the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) introduced the charges at the start of this year.
According to the I&M Digital Business General Manager, Michael Mwangi, the lender tapped into an opportunity to review its policies on the bank to mobile money wallet charges for the digitally active customers.
“Recent customer feedback showed that as much as our transaction rates are favorable, there was an opportunity to review our policies on Bank to mobile money wallet charges for the digitally active customers,” Michael Mwangi said.
He stated that the move will give the customers a relief as the economy continues to be unbearable.
“We believe this move will offer new and existing customers a huge relief during tough economic times and encourage more customers to transact on mobile,” he said.
The General Manager further added that the bank has been doing everything possible since the introduction of the current iMara 2.0 strategy to enhance its digital banking solutions to suit customers’ needs.
“A key focus for the bank since the launch of our current iMara 2.0 strategy is to enhance our digital banking solutions to meet the needs of our customers”, he added.
CBK reinstated charges on transactions incurred on transferring funds from Banks to mobile money wallets, a move that bailed out financial institutions who had been calling for reinstatement.
The charges were suspended on March 16, 2020, three days after the Covid-19 pandemic was declared in the country.
The waiving of the fees was to encourage the non-physical exchange of cash during payments in efforts to contain the spread of the contagious Covid-19.
On Tuesday, December 6, the CBK announced the reinstatement of bank-to-mobile wallet transfer fees, though slashing the charges by half.
Before the waiver, transfers to mobile money wallets were subjected to a transactional fee. Here are the charges I&M Bank charged before the waiver.
Overall, the bank’s move to eliminate fees for bank to mobile money transactions represent the lender’s commitment to providing cost-effective and customer-friendly digital banking solutions.
The decision is expected to make digital banking more accessible to many Kenyans. The move is also aimed at benefitting customers by increasing financially inclusion by putting the bank ahead of competition.
