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Safaricom’s popular mobile money service, M-PESA, experienced a significant outage in Kenya, causing disruptions in bank-to-mobile money transfers. The operator has yet to officially acknowledge the downtime.
Over the past few hours, M-PESA encountered technical issues, affecting a large number of users across Kenya. Customers reported difficulties accessing M-PESA services through the smartphone app, MySafaricom, and the M-PESA super app. Additionally, problems were encountered when trying to transfer funds from banks to M-PESA wallets.
Some banks, like Standard Chartered Bank, acknowledged the service disruption and informed their customers about the temporary unavailability of online banking, SC mobile app bank-to-M-PESA, and mobile banking services. However, not all banks issued official statements, and users shared their experiences on social media platforms.
Despite the challenges faced by I&M Bank customers in transferring funds from their bank accounts to M-PESA, some transactions were eventually completed after a considerable delay. The bank attributed the issue to Safaricom’s system downtime and assured clients that the funds would either be credited back to their accounts or the transactions completed.
Safaricom has not issued a formal statement acknowledging the problem. While some speculate about potential M-PESA gateway compromises, the operator’s communication system is known for its limited disclosure of such incidents.
In response to the disruption, Safaricom sent text messages to customers, informing them of the unavailability of M-PESA services on the M-PESA and Safaricom apps. As an alternative, customers were encouraged to use *334# to conduct M-PESA transactions while the issue was being resolved.
M-PESA plays a crucial role in the Kenyan economy, holding over 96% market share for mobile services. It is widely used for person-to-person transfers, payments, accessing loans, and various other functions. The payments aspect is particularly significant, encompassing services such as electricity token purchases and payments for government services. The service’s deep integration into the economy makes any downtime highly disruptive to daily economic activities.
The recent downtime has also reignited discussions about separating M-PESA from Safaricom. Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa had previously mentioned plans to create a holding company responsible for managing the telco’s mobile money services, towers, data services, and the Ethiopian arm. However, the development, originally scheduled for January 2023, did not materialize as expected. The potential separation could lead to a holding company with multiple businesses operating under Safaricom, and it may include monetization of certain assets like tower leasing and the establishment of a separate tower company.
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