All M-Pesa services to temporarily go offline on Monday – Safaricom
By Faith Lagat, September 19, 2025Safaricom PLC has announced a scheduled three-hour outage for its M-Pesa mobile money service to carry out a critical system upgrade.
The maintenance, set for Monday, 22nd September 2025, from 0:30 am to 3:30 am, will temporarily halt all M-Pesa functions, including airtime purchases and money transfers.
The announcement, shared on Safaricom’s official X account, dated September 19, 2025, highlights the company’s efforts to improve the platform while minimising disruptions to its millions of users across Kenya.
Importance of upgrade
In its statement titled “M-PESA UPGRADE,” Safaricom reflected on the service’s significance, saying, “For 18 years, M-PESA has continued to transform lives across Kenya, connecting you our customers to opportunities everyday.”
The company described the upgrade as essential to maintaining secure, reliable, and worry-free financial services. “To support this and meet our promise to offer always-on, safe, secure, and worry-free financial products and services, we will be conducting a scheduled system upgrade,” read the statement.
“We will be conducting a scheduled system upgrade on Monday, 22nd September 2025, from 0:30 AM to 3:30 AM.”
Safaricom assured customers that the timing was carefully selected to reduce inconvenience, occurring during low-usage hours when most users are asleep.
“The timing of this maintenance activity has been planned to result in minimal inconvenience to our customers.”
Impact on customers and preparations
Despite the late-night scheduling, millions of users who rely on M-Pesa for daily transactions are expected to feel the impact.
During the outage, services including sending and receiving money, paying bills, withdrawing cash, and purchasing airtime will be unavailable.
“During the maintenance, all M-PESA services, including airtime purchase, shall be temporarily unavailable, read the telco’s statement.
The company expressed regret for the temporary disruption, stating, “We apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused and thank you for your continued support.”
Customers are advised to plan transactions in advance and monitor Safaricom’s official channels for further updates.
This planned upgrade represents Safaricom’s commitment to enhancing its services and maintaining M-Pesa’s position as a cornerstone of financial inclusion in Kenya. The full announcement is available on Safaricom’s X account.