Airtel Money has today announced it will increase its Withdrawal charges as well as transaction charges when sending money from Airtel Money to other networks. The changes take effect from today and will see those withdrawing anything between 50k and 250k pay Ksh 300 as the withdrawal fee. This is up from Ksh 270 that has been the fee for such withdrawals.
“We have reviewed our Airtel Money transaction fees to enable our customers to continue enjoying affordable prices while transacting through their mobile money wallets.” Said Airtel Money Kenya MD Anne Kinuthia-Otieno.
There are no changes to sending money from Airtel to Airtel as that remains free. The same cannot be said for Safaricom which charges up to Ksh 108 when sending 250k to other M-Pesa users. M-Pesa is still the dominant mobile money platform though with a wide network of agents across the country. This is something Airtel has to improve on as well as having more merchants using its platform to accept payments.
Airtel has said that agent network expansion is on top of its list of things to do at the moment. In a statement, the company said, “Airtel Money continues to expand its agent network across the country.”
We are not sure how these changes will affect the use of Airtel Money. There are those who may make fewer transactions than they used to just to save some money here and there. What impact this may have on Airtel Money is not possible to speculate at this time though.
Have a look at the current Airtel Money charges below.
Also Read: M-Pesa Vs Airtel Money Transaction Charges