Safaricom has announced that all M-Pesa services will be temporarily unavailable for three hours on Monday, September 22, 2025. The suspension will run from 12:30 am to 3:30 am as the company carries out a scheduled system upgrade.

In a notice released on Friday, September 19, 2025, the telecommunications giant confirmed that the downtime will affect all services on the platform, including sending and receiving money, withdrawals, airtime purchases, and other financial products. Safaricom explained that the upgrade is part of its long-term plan to enhance reliability and introduce new innovations for its millions of customers.

“For 18 years, M-Pesa has continued to transform lives across Kenya, connecting customers to opportunities every day. 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,” the company said in its statement.

Services that will be unavailable

Although Safaricom broadly noted that all services will be down, M-Pesa today offers a wide range of products across different categories. These will be affected during the maintenance period:

Deposits and withdrawals: Customers will not be able to add funds into their M-Pesa wallets or withdraw cash from agents and ATMs.

Send and receive money: Transfers to other M-Pesa users or across mobile money networks will be disabled. Money requests will also not be processed.

Airtime and data: Purchasing airtime or internet bundles for yourself or others will not be possible.

Transaction reversals: Any attempts to reverse wrong transactions will not be completed until after services resume.

Loans and savings: Services like Fuliza overdraft and M-Shwari savings and loans will be unavailable.

Wealth management and insurance: Customers will not be able to access investment products or make insurance payments linked to M-Pesa.

Bank transfers: The link between bank accounts and M-Pesa wallets will be cut off during the upgrade.

Lipa na M-Pesa: Paying at shops, restaurants, supermarkets, and government services using paybill and till numbers will not work.

Recurring payments (M-Pesa Ratiba): Scheduled or automatic deductions, such as rent or bills, will not be processed in the maintenance window.

Global pay and international transfers: Sending or receiving money internationally through services like PayPal and Western Union will be unavailable.

E-commerce and online payments: Payments for goods and services on websites and digital platforms, including AliExpress, will be paused.

Business till payments: Merchants will not be able to receive customer payments during the downtime.

Bulk payments: Businesses will not be able to send out salaries, cash disbursements, or supplier payments through M-Pesa.

Business app and portal: Tools for managing sales, transactions, and access to Fuliza Biashara will be out of service.

Mini-apps: Services hosted on the M-Pesa Super App, such as shopping, transport, and food delivery, will also be inaccessible.

The largest upgrade since 2015

Safaricom revealed that the exercise is the most significant system overhaul since 2015. The new upgrade introduces Fintech 2.0, a next-generation core platform designed to expand transaction capacity and improve strength.

According to CEO Peter Ndegwa, the new platform will increase transaction processing from 4,500 per second to 6,000, with the ability to scale up to 12,000 as demand grows. The system will also run on an “active-active” setup across multiple hosting sites, meaning fewer interruptions and stronger protection against outages.

“This upgrade is a bold investment in the future of M-Pesa and reaffirmation of our commitment to innovation, resilience and customer trust. By moving to Fintech 2.0, we are unlocking a platform that not only scales to meet today’s demands but also anticipates tomorrow’s opportunities,” said Ndegwa.

Safaricom has scheduled the work for the early hours of the morning to minimise disruption to daily business and personal transactions. The company apologised to customers for the temporary inconvenience and assured them that services will resume immediately after the maintenance window.