The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), has moved to stop the operations of two rising payment startups in Africa; Flutterwave and Chipper Cash.

The move came after the Kenya’s apex bank said that Flutterwave and Chipper Cash were not licensed to operate in the East African country.

Flutterwave and Chipper Cash Logos

Flutterwave and Chipper Cash are African payment processors which facilitate cross-border payment transactions of small and large businesses in Africa with footprints in Africa and international.

Meanwhile, the bank has directed all the financial institutions to cease doing business with the two payments processors.

Matu Mugo, the supervision deputy director of Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) filed a letter to all regulated financial institutions in Kenya to stop doing business with Flutterwave and Chipper Cash pointing that both are not licensed to operate in the country.

Mugo wrote;

“

It has come to the attention of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) that Flutterwave Payments Technology Limited and Chipper Technologies Kenya (Chipper) have been engaging in money remittance and payments services without licensing and authorization by CBK…

You are therefore directed to immediately cease and desist from dealing with Flutterwave and Chipper.”

Recall that Flutterwave is facing money laundering allegations in Kenya and had previously made a statement saying that it has been operating in the country through partnerships with regulated banks and telecoms, as it waits for a payments service provider license it applied for in 2019.