Kenya’s new payments bill could force banks to share customer data

Kenya's central bank has proposed new legislation that could enable banks and payment providers to share customer data with licensed third parties, potentially paving the way for open banking in a key digital-payments market on the continent. The draft National Payment System Bill, 2026 suggests that payment providers would need to develop secure systems to share customer data for "open finance" purposes, while also giving the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) the authority to mandate data sharing once customers have given consent.

The proposal could potentially weaken banks' and mobile money providers' control over customer relationships, allowing licensed fintechs to access customer data. This could transform the data locked inside banks and mobile money into a new competitive arena, giving fintechs the opportunity to vie for customers without needing to own the accounts where the funds reside.

The bill does not specify the third parties directly, but it does create two categories: payment initiation service providers, which can execute payments on behalf of customers, and account information service providers, which can pull data and provide customers with a unified view across all their accounts.

Neither of these categories would need to hold customer funds, unlike electronic money issuers and wallet providers. However, the bill does emphasize that the latter must maintain customer money in trust accounts at a bank. The bill remains less specific on the technicalities of data access, stating that the Central Bank of Kenya "may require" providers to implement data sharing after customer consent and stating that it will issue regulations to enforce this provision.

The specifics of what data can be accessed, under what circumstances, and at what cost would be outlined in subsequent CBK regulations.

If Kenya's parliament endorses the law, the affected entities would have a year to adhere to the new requirements. The proposed bill also mandates all financial and payment service providers to utilize systems compatible with competitors' systems as part of an ongoing interoperability initiative. The ultimate goal is to move beyond superficial integrations and implement robust execution.

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