By The Weekly Vision Business Desk
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has introduced a new mobile payment facility that allows investors to settle payments for successfully allocated government securities directly from their mobile phones, through its DhowCSD platform.
The facility is designed to make investing in Treasury bills and bonds more convenient by letting successful bidders pay electronically, without needing to visit a bank or CBK offices. Payments are initiated through the Transactions section of the DhowCSD mobile application or online portal.
At launch, the facility supports M-Pesa only, with CBK indicating that other mobile payment platforms will be added in due course. Investors can pay up to KSh250,000 through the service, a threshold expected to make it easier for individual investors, including those with relatively modest capital, to participate in the government securities market.
Beyond payments, the DhowCSD platform allows investors to bid in auctions and maintain electronic records of their holdings. CBK has urged investors to initiate payments only through the official DhowCSD application or portal, and has set up a dedicated phone line and email address for enquiries relating to the platform.
The move forms part of CBK’s broader push to improve accessibility and efficiency in Kenya’s government securities market, as digital channels increasingly become the preferred route for financial transactions. By removing one of the last manual steps in the investment process, the facility could lower the practical barriers facing small investors, allowing more Kenyans to gain exposure to government debt using mobile-money services they already use daily.
