The uptake of cashless payment systems in Rwanda has no doubt skyrocketed over the past few years. This is mainly attributable to the different incentives put in place by the government to ease the use of such platforms. This fits in well with the government’s aspirations of being an ICT hub, and other aspirations enshrined in the country’s development roadmaps like the National Strategy for Transformation. The digital movement however got a significant boost following the outbreak of the global pandemic of Covid-19, which triggered a raft of measures, all aimed at limiting contact between merchants and their customers in order to minimize transmission. The most widely-used digital payment system is mobile money service, owing to the deep penetration of mobile phones in the country. According to figures released by the central bank in February this year, mobile money payment transactions increased by 85 percent from 378.8 million transactions in 2019 to 701 million. The trend is likely to remain on an upward trajectory given the convenience that comes with use of digital payment systems. However, the thorn in flesh to the digital movement is likely to be the unjustified and uncoordinated charges people incur when they want to transfer their money directly from their bank accounts to their mobile money wallets. A debate that was sparked last week on social media by a customer who complained of these somewhat unfair charges is something that should attract the attention of the central bank, as the regulator of the sector. Reasons advanced by commercial banks, including attributing the discrepancies in charges, including the value of investment in their systems among others, do not seem too convincing. It is very important that the charges either on pulling money or pushing it to or from their mobile money wallets are harmonized across all banks. Where circumstances are exceptional, the regulator sets an acceptable charge for a given bank. The same should apply to mobile telecommunication companies.
