Kenya’s digital financial sector is moving toward an open finance framework that would allow customers to share their financial data securely with licensed third parties, potentially reshaping how banks, mobile money operators and fintechs compete and innovate.
The National Treasury and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) have published the draft National Payment System Bill, 2026, alongside a related policy paper. Public comments are open until 9 October 2026. The proposals would require payment service providers and system operators to maintain systems capable of securely sharing customer data for open finance purposes, but only with the customer’s explicit consent.
Today, most Kenyan customers interact with financial services in silos. A person may hold an M-Pesa wallet, a bank account and one or more digital credit products, yet each provider typically sees only its own slice of the customer’s activity. Switching between apps remains common, and institutions have limited visibility of accounts held elsewhere.
Under the draft bill, customers could authorise licensed third parties to access their payment and account data. This is intended to enable new services such as more accurate credit scoring, personalised financial tools, account aggregation and competition in areas currently dominated by a small number of large players. The CBK would also gain powers to require interoperability arrangements between rival systems.
Clause 29 of the draft obliges providers to build the technical capability for secure data sharing. Clause 28 addresses broader system interoperability. The bill defines open finance as access, with the customer’s permission, to data held by a provider so that outside firms can develop new services.
Kenya already ranks among Africa’s most advanced digital finance markets, with high formal account ownership, widespread mobile money use and a large fintech sector. Industry discussions have long highlighted open finance as a logical next step that could increase competition in concentrated segments such as mobile money and digital credit.
Supporters argue that customer-controlled data portability could lower barriers for smaller fintechs and improve product choice. Concerns centre on data security, the readiness of smaller players, and the incentives for dominant institutions to participate fully. The draft emphasises consent and reversible access as core principles.
The proposals form part of a wider modernisation of Kenya’s payment system regulation. If enacted, the framework would move the country closer to open banking and open finance models already operating in markets such as the UK, Brazil and parts of Europe, adapted to Kenya’s mobile-money-centric landscape.
Implementation would still require detailed regulations, technical standards and supervisory capacity. For now, the draft marks a clear policy signal that Kenya intends to treat financial data mobility as a structural feature of its digital economy rather than a series of bilateral arrangements.
