International payment platforms Sendwave and Wise Group (Nasdaq: WSE; LSE: WISE) have restricted services for Kenyan users amid heightened scrutiny of the country’s anti-money-laundering regime, Business Daily reported on August 18.

Sendwave told a Kenyan customer that it was currently unable to provide wallet services in Kenya because of “technical difficulties” and said it was unsure how long the disruption would last, according to the publication. Users were advised to withdraw balances held in their wallets.

Sendwave, owned by privately held digital payments group Zepz, continues to list Kenya among the markets it serves.

Wise users have meanwhile reported restrictions since July, with at least one customer told that the account could no longer send or receive money and would be closed in October. Wise did not disclose the reason for the reported restriction, according to Business Daily.

The developments follow Hurupay’s decision in July to stop offering US dollar banking services to Kenyan customers and remove Kenya from the list of countries it serves. The fintech, which now operates under the Kolan brand, had enabled customers to receive international payments through virtual dollar, euro and sterling accounts and convert funds into cryptocurrencies.

PayPal (Nasdaq: PYPL) has also frozen or restricted an unspecified number of Kenyan accounts in recent weeks after customers failed to provide requested information about their employment and residence.

Users have additionally reported failed transfers involving Chipper Cash since July, although no company-wide suspension has been confirmed. Chipper Cash is one of Africa’s largest privately held cross-border payments fintechs.

The payment restrictions come as Kenya remains on the Financial Action Task Force’s list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, commonly known as the grey list. FATF placed Kenya on the list in February 2024 and retained it following its June 2026 review.

FATF stresses that increased monitoring does not call for enhanced due diligence and that its standards do not envisage financial institutions cutting off entire classes of customers. However, grey-listing can increase compliance costs and risk perceptions for institutions dealing with affected jurisdictions.

The restrictions also come after Sendwave was cited in a Kenyan court case in July as one of the platforms allegedly used to transfer funds from the US in a KES300mn ($2.3mn) money-laundering investigation, according to Business Daily. There is no suggestion that Sendwave itself was accused of wrongdoing.

The disruption is potentially significant for Kenya’s large digital-payments and remittance market. International platforms are widely used by freelancers, consultants, businesses and diaspora families to receive foreign payments and move money into Kenyan bank accounts and mobile wallets such as M-Pesa, operated by Safaricom (NSE: SCOM).

The Central Bank of Kenya regulates payment service providers and money-remittance operators as part of its mandate to safeguard the financial system and enforce anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorist-financing and proliferation-financing requirements.