By Frankline Sunday |
Business
Commercial banks have also encouraged their customers to use mobile
banking applications for making transactions and settling payments.
Mobile money transactions fell in the last two months as more households
tightened their belts in the
wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data, the
total value of mobile money transactions fell from Sh364 billion in
March to Sh307 billion in April as coronavirus ravaged the economy.
The total number of transactions for the month of April stood at 124.9
million, down from 150 million in the previous month and representing
the lowest mobile money transactions in two years.
This comes even as telecommunication service providers ramp up offerings
for mobile money services in a bid to discourage subscribers from using
cash to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Last month, leading mobile services provider Safaricom waived
transaction fees for amounts less than Sh1,000 and raised transaction
limits as part of the company’s efforts to help fight the pandemic.
Commercial banks have also encouraged their customers to use mobile
banking applications for making transactions and settling payments.
However, curfew and lockdown measures imposed across the country have
had a chilling effect on the economy, with hundreds of thousands of
breadwinners losing their jobs or being sent on unpaid leave.
This has had a direct impact on thousands of households, particularly
those living in rural areas, who rely on remittance from their working
relatives.
Data from financial regulator Central Bank of Kenya indicates that
diaspora remittances have dropped from Sh259 billion in January this
year to Sh208 billion in April. “Broad money supply (M3), a key
indicator for monetary policy formulation, increased from Sh3.661
trillion in March 2020 to Sh3.695 trillion in April 2020,” explained the
KNBS in part.
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