If MPs have their way, the telecommunications regulator, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), will be compelled to ensure that mobile money services like Safaricom’s M-Pesa, Airtel Money and Telkom’s T-Kash are licensed as banks. It is not the first time that Parliament is seeking to have mobile money services brought under full regulation of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). The proliferation of lenders using mobile money technology to extend credit to the banked and unbanked alike has saddled borrowers with high interest rates. “The committee should explain the regulatory framework for financial transactions including loans and promotions transacted through mobile telecommunication companies,” he said. “The committee should state whether financial services being offered by the telecommunications companies can be delinked from those companies and registered as financial companies,” Mr ole Kina said.

Source: Daily Nation March 29, 2019 08:37 UTC