According to Business Daily, the Nairobi United States Embassy will delay its acceptance of Kenya’s new currency notes for payment of services like Visa fees, stating that it needs to put in place new procedures to accept the notes.
It made it known that payments at the embassy will continue to be based on the old currencies, which Kenya gradually started replacing on the 1st of June 2019.
The older versions of smaller denominations will however remain in circulation alongside the new ones launched, but after October 1, the older 1,000 shilling note will be invalid.
The embassy did not offer a timeframe for accepting the new currencies and did not disclose the acceptance procedures it is said to be working on.
The US Embassy via its Twitter handle said, “The Government of Kenya has introduced new currency with plans for withdrawing all old currency from circulation by October 1, 2019. We are currently developing procedures to accept the new Kenyan shillings,”.
It added that “Until these procedures are in place, consular applicants will only be able to pay for services using the previous Kenyan shillings. You may also continue to pay by credit card.”
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) redesigned 1, 5, 10 and 20 Kenyan shilling coins in December 2018 and then proceeded to introduce the new 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1,000 shilling notes in the second phase of the country’s transition to the new currency.
The introduction of new currencies are meant to tackle illicit financial flows, cash counterfeiting and nab tax cheats.
With Kenya’s status as the most advanced economy in East Africa, the central bank will co-ordinate the move to scrap the banknote with its counterparts in the region, where the Kenyan currency is widely accepted.
Tanzania and Uganda last week stopped the use of the Kenyan currency in an effort to curb laundering of stolen money back into Kenya.
The Bank of Uganda advised banks to subject all flows to enhanced due diligence.
