M-Kesho will offer a low cost savings, micro-credit and micro-insurance product. Customers will be able to transfer amounts as little as Ksh.100 (USD 1.5) from their M-Pesa account to an Equity Bank interest earning account at no cost. Customers will also be able to complete the account opening documentation not just at Equity Bank branches but also at M-Pesa Agents spread throughout Kenya.
For these reasons, financial stability may be seen as a “public good” which requires adequate regulation. Regulators need to tread a careful path between controls that ensure the stability of the financial system and over-bearing regulation, which would hinder competition and efficiency. The new regulatory reform and the macro-prudential oversight now in place constitute an unprecedented achievement.