Thousands of businesses using M-Pesa Paybill and Till numbers for revenue collection face possible suspension of their M-Pesa business services if they fail to comply with ownership disclosure requirements.
M-Pesa has issued notices to business owners, requiring them to submit Beneficial Ownership (BO) declarations to Safaricom by April 30, 2025.
Failure to comply may lead to suspension of key services, including fund withdrawals and settlements.
The BO declaration seeks to identify individuals who ultimately own or control a business—part of efforts to boost transparency and comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations.
Notice to businesses using M-Pesa services
One business owner shared an official communication from M-Pesa Business, which read, “Please ensure submission of your organisation’s Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs) by 30th April 2025 to avoid interruption of settlement or withdrawal services from your Lipa Na M-PESA account. Non-compliant accounts will be suspended from withdrawing funds on 30th April 2025.”
The notice added, “Should you have any immediate questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to your account manager or email [email protected].”
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When contacted by The Kenya Times, telecommunications giant Safaricom confirmed the directive.
Safaricom explains that the AML/CFT (Amendment) Act, 2023 and the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Regulations, 2023, (POCAMLA) require all financial institutions to collect, verify and maintain an up-to-date beneficial ownership information for all its business relationships.
The regulations define a beneficial owner as a person who ultimately owns or controls a customer or the person on whose behalf a transaction is being conducted, and any person who ultimately exercises effective control over a legal person or arrangement.
Beneficial Owners’ Information Update
A beneficial owner of a company is a natural person who meets any of the following conditions with respect to the company:
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Holds at least ten percent (10%) of the issued shares in the company either directly or indirectly.
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Exercises at least ten percent (10%) of the voting rights in the company either directly or indirectly.
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Holds a right, directly or indirectly, to appoint or remove a director of the company; or
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Exercises significant influence or control, directly or indirectly over the company.
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Influence or control means participation in the finances and financial policies of a company without necessarily having full control over them.
All organisations using the M-PESA Paybill, Short-Term Paybill, Bulk Payment, Buy Goods and Business Till services are required to make the ownership declaration.
This shareholder, ownership and directorship detail information required is to be supplied through the secure BO Portal below accessible only to authorized individuals.
These include the organization authorized users with the role of “Business Administrator” within the M-PESA G2 Portal and the ominated number being a person authorized to manage organization funds through USSD.
How to submit M-Pesa Beneficial Ownership declaration
The BO portal can be accessed via the link https://www.partnerhub.safaricom.co.ke/beneficial-owner.
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Safaricom explains that failure to comply with the Companies Act shall attract a regulatory fine on the Company and each of its officers and may lead to de-registration of your company from the Registrar of Companies.
Further, failure to provide beneficial ownership information to Safaricom may result in disruption in services.
The beneficial ownership process can be lodged through accessing the webpage https://brs.go.ke/ and creating an account on eCitizen for first time users or logging into an existing eCitizen account.
Once logged in, the beneficial ownership information can be lodged:
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During the initial registration of a company; or
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As an update of the BO register for existing companies; or
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As an amendment to the existing company’s BO information.
A detailed step-by-step guide can be accessed by clicking https://brs.ecitizen.go.ke/downloads/bo-manual-v1.pdf.
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