---
title: "Kenya Payments Bill 2026 Could Force Banks to Share Data"
description: "Kenya’s draft National Payment System Bill 2026 could compel banks and payment firms to share customer data with licensed third parties, with consent."
canonical_url: "https://liners.com/news/kenya-payments-bill-2026-open-banking-customer-data"
markdown_url: "https://liners.com/news/kenya-payments-bill-2026-open-banking-customer-data.md"
type: "article"
language: "en"
published_at: "2026-09-22T07:01:01.891Z"
updated_at: "2026-09-22T07:01:01.924Z"
---

# Kenya Payments Bill 2026 Could Force Banks to Share Data

Kenya’s draft National Payment System Bill 2026 could compel banks and payment firms to share customer data with licensed third parties, with consent.

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- [Kenya Payments Bill 2026 Could Force Banks to Share Data](/news/kenya-payments-bill-2026-open-banking-customer-data)

## Content

## In Short
Kenya’s central bank is backing a new payments bill that could require banks and payment providers to share customer data with licensed third parties, if customers agree.

## What Happened
Kenya Payments Bill 2026, formally the draft National Payment System Bill, 2026, proposes rules that push the market toward open banking and open finance.

Open banking is when banks must let customers securely share their account data with other regulated companies, usually through APIs, which are software connectors.

The draft bill says each payment service provider and payment system operator should use systems capable of securely sharing customer data for “open finance purposes.” It also gives the Central Bank of Kenya power to require providers to enable data sharing once a customer has given consent.

The bill does not name the third parties in the main clause. However, its licensing schedule creates two new categories. Payment initiation service providers could execute payments on a customer’s behalf. Account information service providers could access account data, such as balances and transaction history.

If passed, the rules could apply to banks and major payment rails in Kenya’s digital payments ecosystem, including mobile money providers.

## Why It Matters
Kenya Payments Bill 2026 could weaken the grip banks and mobile money operators have on customer relationships.

Today, a lot of customer data sits inside bank accounts and mobile money wallets, including [M-PESA](/m-pesa). That data advantage makes it harder for smaller fintechs to offer credit, savings, and personalised money tools without building their own deposit base.

A clearer legal path for consent-based data access could help licensed fintechs compete on product quality, pricing, and user experience, not on who “owns” the customer account.

It also raises practical questions. Regulators and providers will need strong security standards, audit trails, and clear liability rules if shared data is misused or breached. For startups, the opportunity is real, but the compliance burden will likely increase too.

## Sources and products

- [Techcabal](https://techcabal.com/2026/09/22/kenya-proposes-forcing-banks-to-share-customer-data)

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- [Policy & Regulation](/news)

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