The World Bank has called for Central Bank regulation of telecommunication companies offering money transfer and mobile banking services — a move that could raise customer charges owing to increased compliance costs.

While recognising that mobile technology offers a chance for an estimated three billion low income earners to get access to financial services, the bank says that the line differentiating financial providers in the banking, telecom, credit card and mobile commerce has become increasingly blurred, yet no robust regulations to guard against money laundering have been passed.

“Distinctive risks concern observers in affected service markets,” said the World Bank. “These perceptions merit urgent attention because mobile financial service providers may fall outside anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism controls generally adhered to by traditional financial institutions,” added the institution in a presentation made at a Citi Bank organised mobile money policy forum in Nairobi last month.

The bank says regulators and players in the industry need to identify perceived risks to avoid formulating laws that will put the sector into the trap of over-regulation.