Airtel Money changes Rudishiwa transaction rewards from airtime to cashback

When Airtel Kenya launched the Rudishiwa Transaction Fee campaign in December 2023, it positioned the promotion as a simple way to reward Airtel Money users. Every eligible withdrawal transaction fee was refunded as airtime, allowing customers to immediately spend it on calls, SMS, or data bundles.

A year later, the telco expanded the offer to Airtel Paybill payments, refunding 50% of eligible transaction fees as airtime during the festive season. This was later revamped to include bank-to-wallet transfers. And now, Airtel Money appears to have quietly changed how the campaign works altogether.

During our testing, we noticed that recent Rudishiwa rewards are no longer being credited as airtime. Instead, they are now deposited into a new Bonus Wallet, a change Airtel Kenya has yet to formally announce. The difference is immediately noticeable. Older SMS notifications informed customers that their transaction fee had been sent back as Airtime. However, a recent reward received this week instead reads:

"Congratulations! You have received KES 21.07 in your BONUS wallet."

The change appears to have rolled out silently around the same time Airtel Money recently increased the cost of sending money to M-PESA without any formal announcement.

A new Bonus Wallet inside Airtel Money

Exploring the new menus through *334# reveals that Airtel has introduced a dedicated Bonus Wallet for these rewards. Selecting option 98 (Cashback) opens a new menu with four options:

• How do I get the bonus?
• Withdraw from Bonus Wallet
• Bonus Account Balance
• Main Account Balance

The “How do I get the bonus?” option explains how the new system works:

"Get 50% of your Transaction fee as CASH in YOUR BONUS WALLET EACH TIME YOU Send Money to Other Network, Paybill, Bank to AirtelMoney."

This suggests Airtel is moving away from airtime refunds in favour of cashback stored in a separate wallet. Interestingly, the wording also indicates the Bonus Wallet is tied to more than just withdrawals, covering transactions such as sending money to other networks, Airtel Paybill payments and bank transfers.

Another noticeable change is that the Bonus Wallet is maintained separately from the main Airtel Money balance. For instance, checking the balances individually shows the primary Airtel Money account and the Bonus Wallet as two distinct wallets.

The Airtel Money cashback is now withdrawable

Perhaps the biggest improvement is that these rewards are no longer locked to airtime. The new Bonus Wallet allows customers to transfer their cashback into their Airtel Money account by simply entering the amount they wish to withdraw.

If this functionality rolls out to all eligible users, it would make the revamped Rudishiwa campaign considerably more flexible than before, allowing customers to spend their refunded transaction fees however they choose instead of limiting them to airtime purchases.

Airtel Kenya has yet to publish updated terms or formally announce the revamped Rudishiwa campaign. However, the introduction of the Bonus Wallet, together with the recent silent increase in Airtel Money-to-M-PESA transaction charges, suggests the company is quietly making broader changes to its mobile money platform without the fanfare that accompanied the original Rudishiwa launch in 2023.