Safaricom users will not be able to send money from M-Pesa to other customers who have not registered to use mobile money services.
The telecommunication company made the announcement on Saturday, February 3, indicating that the move would take effect beginning February 5, 2024.
However, the telco indicated that registered mobile money customers will be able to send and receive money across different mobile money providers.
These providers include Airtel, T- Kash and others.
“Effective February 5th, 2024, you will no longer be able to send money from M-PESA to unregistered mobile money customers.
“As a registered mobile money customer, you will be able to send and receive money across different mobile money providers such as Airtel and T-Kash,” noted Safaricom.
Further, the telco advised customers who were yet to be registered to use mobile money services to visit the nearest Safaricom shop or M-Pesa agent and register.
“We encourage customers who are not registered for mobile money services to register by visiting a Safaricom Shop or M-PESA Agent with their Identity Document,” the statement added.
Also Read: KRA Clarifies Reports Linking Its System to M-Pesa Downtime
Safaricom on Paybill Disruptions
Earlier on Tuesday, January 23, the telco announced a service disruption affecting paybill payments through M-PESA.
The company announced that its technical team was working on restoring the services, adding that it would inform the customers once the paybill payment services were restored.
Its statement followed several complaints from customers who noted that some M-PESA services including bank transfers had been down since the previous day.
“Dear Customer, we are experiencing a recurring service intermittency affecting some PayBill payments. The issue is under resolution by our technical team, we shall inform you once normal services resume,” read the notice.
Also Read: How Safaricom Collects and Uses Your Personal Information
M-Pesa Services Down
M-Pesa has been experiencing downtime and delays in the recent past including on February 2, evening when several users complained that they were not able to use the service.
However, a major outage occurred on January 9, when the telco experienced a technical hitch that lasted for hours, affecting millions of its users across the country.
Kenyans attempting to access the platform were notified that it was undergoing routine maintenance.
“Dear Customer, MPESA is currently undergoing maintenance and is unable to process your request,” the pop-up message indicated.
Several mobile transfer services were affected including the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) mobile banking services.
