Kenyan fintech news
Regulatory changes, paybill consolidations, operator updates, and tax policy shifts that affect howKenyans pay or receive money. Each entry is a dated explainer with what changed, why it matters, and what to do. Verified quarterly and within 48 hours of any directly relevant ecosystem change.
Latest
DStv Kenya cuts to four packages from 5 November 2026
DStv Kenya announced on 26 October 2026 that it will replace its six packages with four from 5 November: Starter KES 750, Select KES 1,500, Sports KES 3,000 and Ultimate KES 7,300 a month. The paybill stays 444900.
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A High Court judgment ordered Safaricom to pay an innovator Sh1.4 billion over the design behind M-PESA Go, Business Daily reported. M-PESA Go keeps working: the court declined to stop the service.
On 8 May 2026 the High Court found Safaricom liable for copyright infringement over a child-wallet concept and awarded innovator Peter Nthei Muoki and Beluga Ltd Sh1.4 billion plus a royalty, according to Business Daily. Safaricom secured a 30-day stay to appeal. M-PESA Go was not shut down.
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SASRA has published its 2025 report. Deposit-taking SACCOs grew 13.17% to KSh 1.069 trillion, not the 12.6% doing the rounds, and 34 of the 179 hold 70% of the money.
The SACCO Supervision Annual Report 2025 puts deposit-taking SACCO assets at KSh 1,069.34bn, up 13.17% from KSh 944.86bn. All 357 regulated SACCOs together hold KSh 1,210.70bn. Mwalimu National leads on KSh 76.31bn. A widely shared growth figure of 12.6% off a base of KSh 949.77bn appears nowhere in the report and understates the year.
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Edwin Sifuna has launched a party, The Equitable Party. It publishes no paybill, and 3033049, the Sifuna number already circulating, belongs to the Linda Mwananchi Movement, which is a different thing.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna unveiled The Equitable Party in Nairobi on 4 October 2026 and was declared its leader and presidential candidate for 2027. No payment number has been published for the new party. paybillke lists none and will not add one until there is an official number to verify.
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Finserve Africa has a mobile wallet on Google Play called EMMA, with its own onboarding code, *765#. Its listing shows a 10+ download band, so almost nobody is using it yet.
EMMA is a mobile wallet published by Finserve Africa, whose Google Play developer record names Equity Group Holdings PLC. Read on 3 October 2026, the listing showed a last update of 2 October 2026 and a 10+ download band. It onboards by app, by *765#, or through Equitel STK.
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Absa is running a second Kenyan wallet alongside Timiza. Absa Next opens an account on a national ID, and its own listing says Kenyan passports are not accepted.
Absa Next is a digital account app for the Kenyan market, published on Google Play by Absa Group Limited and separate from Timiza. It pays out Next Coins as monthly cash, sends by PesaLink, and pays Till, Paybill and Pochi la Biashara. Registration requires a Kenyan national ID, and the listing states that Kenyan passports are not supported.
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CBK licensed 29 more digital lenders on 30 September, taking the register to 281. Licensed DCPs have now issued 9.6 million loans worth Ksh.165.1 billion.
The Central Bank of Kenya announced 29 additional Digital Credit Provider licences on 30 September 2026, taking the total to 281. The same release put licensed DCP lending at 9,596,509 loans worth Ksh.165.1 billion as at August 2026.
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M-Pesa agents earned KSh 9,353 a month in the year to March 2026, down 9.9 percent
Safaricom Kenya paid KSh 37.38 billion in M-Pesa commissions across 333,011 agents in the year to March 2026. That is KSh 9,353 per agent per month, down from KSh 10,378. The commission pool did not shrink. It grew 0.4 percent. Agent numbers grew 11.4 percent.
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CBK 2025: mobile money transactions fell 30 percent while the agent network grew 24 percent. Kenyans made fewer, bigger payments.
The Central Bank of Kenya published its Bank Supervision Annual Report 2025 on 21 September 2026. The headline most coverage will miss: monthly mobile money transaction volume fell 30 percent while value fell only 4 percent, so the average transaction grew by more than a third.
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Sifuna's Linda Mwananchi paybill 3033049 verified: KES 6.5M+ raised, registered as E Sifuna, briefly shut down by Safaricom in July
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna's Linda Mwananchi civic-mobilisation paybill 3033049 is verified as active. Registered under "E Sifuna" because the movement is not a party. Safaricom briefly deactivated the paybill in July, then restored it. KES 6.5M+ raised per Sifuna's own disclosures.
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State of mobile money in Kenya 2026: M-PESA processes KShs 41.68T, Airtel Money hits US$195.9B across 14 markets
paybillke publishes the definitive Kenya mobile money 2026 data report, compiled from the primary Safaricom PLC and Airtel Africa plc FY26 filings. Every figure sourced, every comparison caveated.
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Safaricom cuts M-PESA business charges: Buy Goods, Pochi la Biashara, and Business Till transfers all cheaper from Aug 7 2026
Safaricom announced a broad tariff cut on M-PESA business rails effective 7 August 2026. Buy Goods now free up to KES 500 (up from KES 200), Business Till transfers to phones and paybills cut by up to 50 percent, and Pochi la Biashara gets a promo tariff running through 31 October 2026. Full band-by-band tables.
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GRA licensing deadline crunch + court petition against chair: what the 2026 regime means for Kenyan bettors and operators
Kenya's Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA), which replaced BCLB under the Gambling Control Act 2025, hit a 30 June 2026 re-licensing deadline. The Association of Gaming Operators Kenya (AGOK) says the transition is on track. A separate court petition challenges GRA chair Peter Maina Karimi's eligibility over prior links to mCHEZA operator Acumen Communications.
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Finance Act 2025 betting tax stable in 2026: 5% deposits, 5% withdrawals
The Finance Act 2025 betting tax structure (5% excise on deposits, 5% excise on withdrawals, no stake tax, no winnings withholding) is now fully bedded in across all GRA-licensed operators as of June 2026. Update, 19 October 2026: the Finance Act 2026 reintroduced a 20% withholding tax on winnings from 1 July 2026.
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GRA replaces BCLB: Kenya's new gambling regulator explained
The Gambling Control Act 2025 set up the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) to replace the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB). The Act was assented to on 7 August 2025 and commenced on 26 August 2025, according to Kenya Law.
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eCitizen 222222: how the Single Payment paybill changed Kenyan government collections
Since August 2023, paybill 222222 (eCitizen Single Payment) has become the consolidated paybill for most Kenyan government services, public universities, county fees, and SHA contributions. As of mid-2026 the consolidation is essentially complete.
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M-PESA limits stable: KES 500K wallet, 250K single transaction, 500K daily since 2022
The CBK directive of October 2022 raised the M-PESA wallet ceiling from KES 300,000 to KES 500,000, the single-transaction cap stayed at KES 250,000, and the daily ceiling moved to KES 500,000. As of June 2026 these limits remain unchanged.
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KPLC prepaid paybill 888880 verified stable through 2026
The KPLC prepaid token paybill 888880 (and postpaid 888888) have been stable since 2024 and remain the verified channels for buying KPLC tokens via M-PESA. We re-verify quarterly and within 48 hours of any KPLC announcement.
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paybillke verification methodology refresh: Q2 2026
A quick log of how paybillke verifies the paybills in the directory, what changed in Q2 2026, and how to report a paybill we have missed or got wrong.
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We do not publish on a fixed cadence. Entries land as ecosystem events warrant. The most reliable way to stay current is to bookmark this page and check monthly. For paybill-change reports, tell us when you spot one we have missed.