Pay U Kenya has been stripped of its operating license after struggling to penetrate the country’s fiercely competitive fintech market.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) decided to end the global payments giant’s stay in the East African country, just weeks after it entered liquidation which ended its six-year struggle to break into a market dominated by M-PESA and homegrown payment firms.
The termination of the licence from one of Africa’s most competitive digital payment markets, effective 13 October 2025, follows the company’s voluntary liquidation in August, as confirmed by CBK Governor Dr. Kamau Thugge through Gazette Notice No. 15014.
The Prosus-owned payment gateway, launched in 2019, had sought to bridge global e-commerce firms with Kenya’s vibrant mobile money ecosystem.
“PayU Kenya notified the Central Bank of its intention to cease operations and surrender its licence,” CBK said in a statement.
PayU Kenya’s collapse is the latest example of punishing challenges foreign fintechs face in Kenya’s mature but tightly regulated payments market, where Safaricom’s M-PESA processes over 90% of mobile transactions, worth more than $66.9 billion (Ksh8.7 trillion) annually.
Other players such as Airtel Money, T-Kash, Pesapal, and Cellulant continue to dominate the lucrative sector through deep local networks and regulatory familiarity.
Despite its global pedigree and partnerships, including one with Cellulant, PayU failed to gain a foothold owing to high operational costs, low merchant adoption, and regulatory complexities as key hurdles.
PayU’s exit comes amid stricter CBK oversight under the National Payment System Regulations (2014) and heightened compliance demands tied to anti-money laundering and data protection laws.
Still, Kenya remains a magnet for fintech innovation with new startups in digital credit, e-commerce payments, and remittances continuing to thrive, buoyed by one of the continent’s most connected populations.
Share
