Patrick Njoroge Proposes Bonus Payouts for Mobile Money Users From Customer Funds

Former Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Patrick Njoroge has proposed changes that could see mobile money users receive regular bonus payouts from income generated by customer funds held in trust.

Njoroge made the proposal in comments submitted on September 28, 2026, on the August 2026 draft National Payment System Policy.

He wants payment laws and regulations to require Payment Service Providers (PSPs) to distribute part of the income generated from customer funds to wallet holders after deducting the operating costs and other related expenses of the trust.

Patrick Njoroge Proposes Bonus Payouts for Mobile Money Users

According to the proposal, Patrick Njoroge has called for the policy and proposed payment laws to explicitly require the regular distribution of what he describes as “bonus payouts” to wallet holders.

He argued that the payouts should come from income generated by customer funds held in trust, after the operational costs and other related expenses of the trust have been met.

“ “Bonus payouts” to wallet holders. The Policy and the National Payment System laws should be amended to explicitly require regular distribution of bonus payouts beyond the operational costs and related expenses of the Trust,” read part of the comment.

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Njoroge said the proposal reflects the fact that money held in mobile wallets is the customers’ financial property.

He also pointed to practices in Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana as examples of countries where similar arrangements exist.

In his submission, Njoroge said Kenyan PSPs have historically channelled returns generated from customer funds into charitable causes.

“This aligns to the reality of wallets as customer’s legal financial property and the practice in other countries, e.g., Tanzania, Uganda, and Ghana. Kenya’s PSPs have from the outset channeled these returns into charitable causes, a practice that remains a holdover from the industry’s nascent phase,” 

He described the arrangement as a holdover from the early years of the mobile money industry, when expectations were that the total amount held in wallets would remain relatively small.

Njoroge argued that the growth of mobile money has changed those circumstances and that the policy should now consider how customers can benefit from the income generated by their funds.

Former CBK Governor Seeks Stronger Consumer Protection in Payments Sector

Beyond the bonus payouts, Njoroge proposed several other changes to Kenya’s payments framework.

He called for greater agent interoperability to allow customers to conduct cash-in and cash-out transactions through authorised agents regardless of their payment service provider.

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The former CBK governor also identified fraud, affordability and privacy as key concerns for consumers and called for clearer principles on fraud prevention, liability and consumer redress.

Njoroge further proposed stronger safeguards for consumer data, including requirements for data to be shared only with the customer’s explicit, informed and revocable consent.

He also called for the development of secure offline payment mechanisms that would allow businesses and individuals to continue making payments during major network outages.

Additionally, the former CBK governor raised concerns about competition within vertically integrated corporate groups and called for clearer rules governing the relationship between payment service providers and their wider corporate groups.

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Former CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge speaking during a past meeting. Photo/ Patrick Njoroge / X