Philip Etale,  the Orange Democratic Movement’s (ODM) Director of Communications, has sparked a wide-ranging debate after raising concerns about a privacy flaw on Safaricom’s M-PESA platform.

In a post shared on X on November 16, 2025, Etale criticised the exposure of users’ account balances during payment verification processes.

Also Watch: KRA chairman responds to M-Pesa account access concerns.

His post called for Safaricom to adopt a QR code–based payment system similar to China’s WeChat model.

“Dear @Safaricom_Care, it is unfair and annoying for someone to look at your M-Pesa balance in the name of checking the transaction message after making payments. Why don’t you guys invent something like @Weixin_WeChat, where you just scan and pay directly? Think about this,” he wrote.

Safaricom acknowledges feedback

Safaricom responded to Etale’s post early on November 17, 2025, noting, “Hello Etale, we take this as feedback. Thank you ^JN,” read Safaricom X’s response dated November 17, 2025.

The response coincided with the company’s scheduled system upgrade on its Fuliza platform, set for Monday, November 17, 2025, between 1:00 AM and 2:00 AM.

In a notice issued on November 15, 2025, Safaricom said the upgrade is part of efforts to improve service reliability and enhance user experience.

“We are continually improving our platform to enhance our services, connecting you, our customers, with more innovations and an even better experience,” the company stated.

It added that the maintenance aims to ensure “always-on, safe, secure, and worry-free financial products and services.”

During the one-hour maintenance window, customers may experience intermittent access to Fuliza services, though other M-PESA services will remain available.

Safaricom said the exercise was scheduled during off-peak hours to minimise inconvenience. “The timing of this maintenance activity has been planned to result in minimal inconvenience to our customers. We apologise for any inconvenience that may be caused and thank you for your continued support,” the notice read. Fuliza remains a critical tool, enabling millions of users to complete transactions even when their balances fall short.

Etale’s concerns emerged against a backdrop of ongoing technical issues affecting M-Shwari, another service under the M-PESA ecosystem.

Despite Safaricom announcing the restoration of M-Shwari services on October 31, 2025, users continued to report difficulties with deposits and withdrawals.