February 4, 2009 - 9:39am
Statement from Joseph Kinuya, the ministry of finance permanent secretary, states that the audit held by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has found Sararicom’s M-Pesa payment processing service to be safe and reliable.
The audit was ordered by Kinuya in December 2008 with money laundering concerns, and triggered by some local banks with fears that regulations of M-Pesa could be susceptible to high-tech fraudsters and money launders
However, it was found that M-Pesa features a series of inherent risks which could cause heavy losses for users. Moreover, local banks stated that M-Pesa should not be exempted from the Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK) regulations. The Treasury found the service was of no credit risk as M-Pesa agents pay before offering services to customers.
After an audit CBK placed the maximum of KES 50,000 (EUR 489) per M-Pesa account per day and a transaction of KES 35,000 (EUR 343) per day limit. Those limits have been explained to be the measures against settlement risk.
M-Pesa has been reported to have reached 5 million users in December 2008.
The audit was ordered by Kinuya in December 2008 with money laundering concerns, and triggered by some local banks with fears that regulations of M-Pesa could be susceptible to high-tech fraudsters and money launders
However, it was found that M-Pesa features a series of inherent risks which could cause heavy losses for users. Moreover, local banks stated that M-Pesa should not be exempted from the Central Bank of Kenya’s (CBK) regulations. The Treasury found the service was of no credit risk as M-Pesa agents pay before offering services to customers.
After an audit CBK placed the maximum of KES 50,000 (EUR 489) per M-Pesa account per day and a transaction of KES 35,000 (EUR 343) per day limit. Those limits have been explained to be the measures against settlement risk.
M-Pesa has been reported to have reached 5 million users in December 2008.