The new M-Pesa charges which took effect on July 1 will see Kenyans pay two per cent more for money transfer services.

The new charges are in line with the 2018/19 budget which recommends increasing the cost of money transfer from ten per cent to twelve per cent. However, money transfers between Sh1 to Sh100 will remain free.

“Pursuant to the Finance Bill, 2018 and the Provisional Collection of Taxes and Duties Act, we have made the following adjustments to our M-Pesa tariffs,” read Safaricom’s notice.

The New Charges Withdrawing money between Sh501 and Sh2,500 will now cost Sh28, an increase from Sh27 while withdrawals from Sh2,501 to Sh3,500 will now cost customers Sh50 from Sh49.

The increase of Sh1 has also been applied to withdrawals between Sh3,501 and Sh5,000 to cost Sh67. Additionally, withdrawals between Sh5,001 and Sh10,000 will now cost Sh2 more than before.

Safaricom has added three shillings to withdrawals between Sh10,001 and Sh15,000 while it has added four shillings to withdrawals between Sh15,001 and Sh20,000.

Nevertheless, withdrawals between Sh35,001 and Sh50,000 have dropped by five shillings while those between Sh50,0001 and Sh70,000 have dropped by Sh30.

The cost of transfer has also increased by Sh1 for amounts between Sh101 and Sh5,000. Safaricom has also limited the number of free transactions below Sh100 to three per day. When the limit is exceeded, customers will pay one shilling for amounts between Sh1 and Sh49 and two shillings for amounts between Sh50 and Sh100.

The notice stated: “You cannot deposit money directly into another M-Pesa customer`s account at an agent outlet.”

According to the telco, customers cannot withdraw less than Sh50 from an agent. In addition, the maximum transaction value per day is Sh140,000 while the maximum amount for each transaction is Sh70,000