Former Central Bank of Kenya governor Patrick Njoroge has publicly questioned the draft National Payment System Bill, 2026, saying it needs tighter safeguards for consumer data, competition and financial inclusion.

The Bill, prepared by the National Treasury and the CBK, aims to replace the 2011 Act with a framework that promotes interoperability, innovation and consumer protection, including an open‑finance provision that would require payment service providers to share customer data with third parties only after obtaining consent.

Njoroge argues that the consent mechanism must be backed by stronger digital‑identity safeguards, insisting that data sharing should be "explicit, informed and revocable" by the customer.

On consumer protection, the draft requires providers to keep funds safe, disclose fees and risks, and set up complaint‑resolution processes, but Njoroge says the Bill should spell out clearer principles on fraud liability, redress and the permissible use of personal data.

Regarding competition, the Bill mandates interoperability between payment providers and their agents and gives the CBK supervisory powers over groups, yet Njoroge warns that vertically integrated conglomerates could still engage in discriminatory pricing unless a clear separation between payment operations and other business lines is enforced.

For financial inclusion, Njoroge says the legislation should go beyond broad objectives and directly tackle rural connectivity gaps, social norms that limit women’s access, lack of identification for youth and marginalised groups, and the high cost of mobile devices and services.

He also calls for explicit recognition of agent interoperability so that customers can transact across different providers and agents can manage pooled liquidity more efficiently, a point he says is only implied in the current draft.

Njoroge questions the treatment of wallet income, proposing that balances in trust accounts be treated as customers’ property with regular bonus payouts after operational costs, rather than being earmarked solely for charitable or prescribed uses.

He further notes the Bill’s silence on a dedicated offline‑payment mechanism, urging the development of secure offline capabilities to protect users during network outages.

Finally, Njoroge points to the upcoming instant‑payment infrastructure as a test case for how government participation in payment markets should be governed, calling for clearer articulation of the state’s role in the system.

Overall, while acknowledging the Bill’s direction, Njoroge stresses that substantive amendments are needed before Kenya adopts the new payments framework.