Kenya is expanding the bank operating hours of its Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, moving toward overhauling its financial infrastructure.
From 1 July 2025, the Kenya Electronic Payment and Settlement System (KEPSS) will run from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on business days, an increase from its previous window of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
KEPSS, which sits at the core of Kenya’s high-value payment ecosystem, is currently accessible only to banks and a few regulated institutions. By extending operational hours, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) is working towards making banks’ lives easier and preparing the ground for a larger transformation.
The extension strengthens liquidity management, reduces settlement delays, and supports more efficient cash flow across government, corporate, and financial entities.
While the CBK has been quiet about the full scope of its roadmap, signs are emerging that Kenya is aligning itself with countries like India and Singapore, where RTGS systems operate round-the-clock and are open to non-bank entities.
At present, fintechs and telecom companies in Kenya operate on the fringes of this infrastructure. They’re forced to rely on third-party integrations that increase costs and complexity, a reality that slows innovation and restricts competition.
That could change.
During the announcement, CBK Governor Dr. Kamau Thugge stated, “This change will reduce settlement risks, improve cash flow management, and enhance Kenya’s role as a regional financial hub.”
That points to a vision in which Kenya’s financial core becomes more accessible, resilient, and regionally competitive.
Importantly, the move aligns with the objectives of the National Payments Strategy 2022–2025, which aims to modernise Kenya’s payment systems and ensure greater financial inclusion.
One major step in that direction was taken in October 2024, when KEPSS migrated to the ISO 20022 messaging standard, a globally recognised protocol that supports richer financial data, faster processing, and better cross-border integration.
With this upgrade, Kenya now shares a technical language with the likes of the European Central Bank and the Reserve Bank of India.
However, the long-term prize is real-time, round-the-clock digital settlement. Kenya isn’t there yet, but the signal shows it’s coming.
Allowing licensed non-bank financial service providers to plug directly into KEPSS would radically change the direction the playing field.
It would open up the infrastructure for cheaper and more flexible payment products, particularly in the customer-to-business (C2B) space where current options are overwhelmed by a handful of legacy providers.
