The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has approved the separation of Airtel’s Mobile Money from the firm’s telecommunication services in a process which began in 2019.
It basically means that Airtel, which is headquartered in India, will have two separate business services in Kenya under Airtel Money Kenya Limited (AMKL) and Airtel Network Kenya Limited (ANKL).
The separation paves way for Airtel to ring-face its operation and focus solely on mobile money services in the country.
“This sets the foundation for AMKL to enhance governance over its mobile money business, strengthen iots operations and offer better services to its customers,” announced the regulator in a statement Tuesday.
Airtel Money was licensed as Payment Service Provider (PSP) on January 21, 2022 under the National Payment Service System Act, 2011.
In Kenya, PSP are mandated to offer their services in strict compliance of CBK requirements, and must operate separately from other businesses.
This is to allow the PSPs to protect the CBK-regulated activities from the shocks emanating from other business activities.
It is also meant to ensure strong governance in their operations, enhance resilience and focuses on improving services to customers.
