Starting January 2023, Kenyan Banks will charge customers a fee (plus excise duty of 20%) when moving funds from their bank to M-Pesa and Airtel Money mobile money wallets. Mobile Money wallets will also charge fees when moving cash from the wallets to bank accounts. That means the zero-rated transfer of cash we’ve enjoyed is going away. 2023 is gearing to be an expensive year.
It seems different banks will charge different fees. We’d expected a standard fee, but from the different tweets and social media posts we are seeing, that will not be the case. It’s also not clear whether or not the different rates we’ve seen announced include the 20% excise fee (or if the excise fee is charged on the amount you actually transact, making it vary with each transaction).
We already covered the transaction charges you can expect from NCBA Bank here. In this article we are going to try and compile every single bank who’ve shared their costs.
Let’s go:
KCB Bank transfer to M-Pesa Charges:
These have been updated based on new information shared by KCB online.
| AMOUNT TRANSACTED | BANK TO MOBILE MONEY CHARGES |
|---|---|
| 1 – 100 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 11.20 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 13.60 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 16 |
| 1,501 – 2,500 | 26 |
| 2,501 – 3,500 | 38 |
| 3,501 – 5,000 | 50 |
| 5,001 – 7,500 | 64 |
| 7,501 – 20,000 | 76 |
| 20,000 – 150,000 | 78 |
Family Bank transfer to M-Pesa and Airtel Money Charges:
Family bank have an extra row of between KES 15,000 to KES 20,000, and between KES 20,000 to KES 150,000. This is unlike other banks.
| AMOUNT TRANSACTED | BANK TO M-PESA CHARGES | BANK TO AIRTEL MONEY CHARGES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 10 | 11 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 12 | 13 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 14 | 20 |
| 1,501 – 2,500 | 23 | 25 |
| 2,501 – 3,500 | 33 | 35 |
| 3,501 – 5,000 | 43 | 45 |
| 5,001 – 7,500 | 55 | 55 |
| 7,501 – 10,000 | 55 | 55 |
| 10,001 – 15,000 | 65 | 65 |
| 15,001 – 20,000 | 65 | 65 |
| 20,001 – 150,000 | 67 | 65 |
Stanchart Bank transfer to Mobile Money Charges:
Standard Chartered and DTB have fairly similar charges.
| AMOUNT TRANSACTED | Bank to Mobile Money Charges |
|---|---|
| 1 – 100 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 11 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 15 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 18 |
| 1,501 – 2,500 | 25 |
| 2,501 – 3,500 | 35 |
| 3,501 – 5,000 | 47 |
| 5,001 – 7,500 | 57 |
| 7,501 – 20,000 | 67 |
| 20,000 – 150,000 | 70 |
National Bank of Kenya transfer to M-Pesa and Airtel Money Charges:
National Bank have broken down the charges quite well showing that both the bank and the telco are benefiting from each transaction.
| AMOUNT TRANSACTED | BANK TO M-PESA CHARGES | BANK TO AIRTEL MONEY CHARGES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 10 | 11 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 12 | 13 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 14 | 20 |
| 1,501 – 2,500 | 23 | 25 |
| 2,501 – 3,500 | 33 | 35 |
| 3,501 – 5,000 | 43 | 45 |
| 5,001 – 7,500 | 55 | 55 |
| 7,501 – 20,000 | 60 | 60 |
| 20,000 – 150,000 | 67 | 65 |
Equity Bank transfer to M-Pesa Charges:
Equity has made it clear that these charges are exclusive of government taxes. Which means the charges could be higher.
| AMOUNT TRANSACTED | BANK TO M-PESA CHARGES | BANK TO AIRTEL MONEY CHARGES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 10 | 11 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 12 | 13 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 14 | 20 |
| 1,501 – 2,500 | 23 | 25 |
| 2,501 – 3,500 | 33 | 35 |
| 3,501 – 5,000 | 43 | 45 |
| 5,001 – 7,500 | 55 | 55 |
| 7,501 – 20,000 | 65 | 65 |
| 20,000 – 150,000 | 67 | 65 |
Diamond Trust Bank transfer to M-Pesa cost:
Here are the DTB charges:
| AMOUNT TRANSACTED | Bank to Mobile Money Charges |
|---|---|
| 1 – 100 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 11 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 15 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 18 |
| 1,501 – 2,500 | 25 |
| 2,501 – 3,500 | 35 |
| 3,501 – 5,000 | 47 |
| 5,001 – 7,500 | 57 |
| 7,501 – 20,000 | 67 |
| 20,000 – 150,000 | 70 |
NCBA Bank transfer to M-Pesa cost:
It isn’t clear if these will be the same charges for people using NCBA Loop accounts.
| AMOUNT TRANSACTED | BANK TO M-PESA CHARGES | BANK TO AIRTEL MONEY CHARGES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 10 | 11 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 12 | 18 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 14 | 20 |
| 1,501 – 2,500 | 23 | 25 |
| 2,501 – 3,500 | 33 | 35 |
| 3,501 – 5,000 | 43 | 45 |
| 5,001 – 7,500 | 55 | 55 |
| 7,501 – 20,000 | 65 | 65 |
| 20,000 – 150,000 | 67 | 65 |
Stanbic Bank Charges to M-Pesa:
These charges are also not inclusive of the 20% excise duty:
| AMOUNT TRANSACTED | BANK TO MOBILE MONEY CHARGES |
|---|---|
| 1 – 100 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 11 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 15 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 18 |
| 1,501 – 2,500 | 25 |
| 2,501 – 3,500 | 35 |
| 3,501 – 5,000 | 47 |
| 5,001 – 7,500 | 57 |
| 7,501 – 20,000 | 67 |
| 20,000 – 150,000 | 70 |
I&M Bank charges to mobile money:
Update: I&M Bank has waived all charges to M-Pesa and Airtel Money.
Here are the fees you will pay (excluding excise duty) when transferring cash from your I&M bank to mobile money:
| Transaction Amount | Charges to Mobile Money |
|---|---|
| 1 – 100 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 10 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 12 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 14 |
| 1,501 – 2,500 | 23 |
| 2,501 – 3,500 | 33 |
| 3,501 – 5,000 | 43 |
| 5,001 – 7,500 | 55 |
| 7,501 – 20,000 | 65 |
| 20,001 – 150,000 | 65 |
Cooperative Bank transfer to M-Pesa charges:
This bank has apparently been charging customers for M-Pesa transfers all along. So the rates might only now be a little cheaper, or perhaps the same. (Update: the bank has shared information on the new rates, exclusive of the 20% excise duty)
| Amount | Charges to Mobile Money |
|---|---|
| 0 – 100 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 20 |
| 501 – 2,500 | 24 |
| 2,501 – 7,500 | 28 |
| 7,501 – 20,000 | 36 |
| 20,001 – 30,000 | 40 |
| 30,001 – 70,000 | 50 |
Absa Bank charges to send to M-Pesa:
It’s not yet clear what Absa will charge, as they’re only replying to tweets of asked amounts. They’ve not shared a full breakdown. Based on the tweets, this is what we have:
| Amount | Charges to Mobile Money |
|---|---|
| 1 – 100 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 11 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 15 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 18 |
| 1,501 – 2,500 | 25 |
| 2,501 – 3,500 | 35 |
| 3,501 – 5,000 | 47 |
| 5,001 – 7,500 | 57 |
| 7,501 – 20,000 | 67 |
| 20,001 – 150,000 | 70 |
Other banks:
Please share down below, or through socials, what your respective banks will be charging. Remember these take effect from midnight.
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Does this charges exclude 20 percent of every a mount withdrawn – government fee.
Hail I&M
why is KCB the highest of all? isnt there a way ti regulate this?
Cooperative is th highest I think
Nbk my bae.
Hi. Yes, Coop has been charging as all through for sending Money from Bank to Mpesa. But I have just discovered they are also charging us to Deposit money to the Coop Bank Accounts. 8k they charge 46bob, 22k charging 65 bob…. Please let me know the banks that are not charging to deposit money using Paybill to the Bank Account
DTB
Thanks for the update atleast we’ve known which bank to save.
(This government)???
We were used to make free transactions but all in all we have to change with season
how did I do
What of from mobile money to bank charges
Thank you for the update.
Atleast we have known which bank saves your pocket thus good in saving.
Mpesa almost halved their cost – but that’s dependent on your Mobile Carrier, not the bank.
It’s always free I think
Nice information.It would be great to have a conclusion of which bank is thus a better bet to save some bucks if someone wants to synthesize all the information written.