What does it take to get a payment processing licence in Kenya?
To hold a payment processing licence in Kenya, you need the Electronic Retail Payment Service Provider licence from Central Bank of Kenya. Published minimum capital: KES 5,000,000 (core capital). Full requirements — minimum capital, local presence, timeline, local ownership, fees and ongoing obligations — are set out below in each instrument's own words, with source and date; amounts are in the statute's own currency.
“Payment processing” here is the normalized activity: Provide payment processing / payment solution services without holding customer funds. Providers in this category cannot keep customers' money.
Activity id (as used by the Afriset MCP): fintech:PAYMENT_PROCESSING
Electronic Retail Payment Service Provider
Central Bank of Kenya| Requirement | As published | Source | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum capital | KES 5,000,000 (core capital) Verbatim“5,000,000.00” | National Payment System Regulations, 2014 (Legal Notice 109 of 2014) | 2022-12-31 |
| Local presence / incorporation | A value has been located but not yet verified, so we don't publish it here. | — | — |
| Timeline | Info request "within thirty days" (Reg 5(3)); certificate "within seven days of receipt of authorisation fees" (Reg 5(6)); no explicit validity-term sentence. Verbatim“within thirty days … within seven days of receipt of authorisation fees” | National Payment System Regulations, 2014 (Legal Notice 109 of 2014) | 2022-12-31 |
| Local ownership | No such requirement: No local-shareholding percentage requirement. | National Payment System Regulations, 2014 (Legal Notice 109 of 2014) | 2022-12-31 |
| Fees | Application KES 5,000; Authorisation KES 100,000 Verbatim“5,000 … 100,000” | National Payment System Regulations, 2014 (Legal Notice 109 of 2014) | 2022-12-31 |
| Ongoing obligations | Monthly reporting (Reg 29 — "within ten days of the end of every calendar month submit to the Bank"); AML/CFT (Reg 60); core capital held "at all times" (Reg 11); renewal ≥2 months before expiry (Reg 9). (Trust-Fund safeguarding under Reg 25 applies where the provider holds customer funds.) Verbatim“within ten days of the end of every calendar month submit to the Bank … at all times” | National Payment System Regulations, 2014 (Legal Notice 109 of 2014) | 2022-12-31 |
Requirements as published in the cited instruments — not legal or compliance advice. Capital and fees are shown in the currency the statute itself uses. Where a value is located but not yet verified, we show that it exists but don't publish the figure. Verify directly with the regulator.
Who already holds this licence?
0 entities are on the Central Bank of Kenya register under the Electronic Retail Payment Service Provider category — view the register .
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