The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has ordered commercial banks, microfinance banks, and mortgage finance firms to in an instant discontinuance their partnerships with fintech unicorns, Flutterwave and Chipper Money, in a round dated July 29. 

“It has technique to the attention of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) that Flutterwave Funds Technology Restricted (Flutterwave) and Chipper Applied sciences Kenya Restricted (Chipper) had been participating in Money Remittance and Price Products and providers without licensing and authorisation by CBK,” Matu Mugo, deputy director of bank supervision on the CBK, stated within the round. 

“You are attributable to this fact directed to in an instant stop and desist from dealing with Flutterwave and Chipper,” the round reads. 

This round is coming a day after the apex bank stated that Flutterwave and Chipper Money are no longer licensed to operate in Kenya as remittance operators and price providers.  “Flutterwave is no longer licensed to operate as a remittance supplier or for that matter as a PSB service supplier in Kenya. They aren’t licensed to operate and attributable to this fact they shouldn’t be running. We would possibly moreover impart the the same for Chipper Money,” CBK’s governor, Patrick Njoroge, stated throughout a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Thursday, July 28.  

In a response to the CBK’s July 28 comment on July 28, got by TechCabal, Flutterwave had stated that it entered Kenya via partnership with “banks and cell operators licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya”. The corporate also claimed that it submitted an application to operate as a price service supplier within the country and has been in fixed engagement with the CBK to make obvious it affords your complete requirements for licensing and is this skill that expecting the issuance of the license.    

Kenyan banks got a 7-week ultimatum, starting from July 29, to verify compliance with the directives of the CBK.