Safaricom has announced that its flagship mobile money platform, M-Pesa, will be temporarily unavailable for three hours on Monday, September 22, 2025, as the company carries out a scheduled system upgrade. The outage will affect millions of customers across Kenya who rely on M-Pesa for everyday transactions.
Scheduled Downtime Details
According to a public notice issued on Friday, the maintenance exercise will run from 12:30 AM to 3:30 AM. During this time, all M-Pesa services — including money transfers, withdrawals, payments, and airtime purchases — will be inaccessible.
The company urged customers to plan their transactions accordingly to avoid disruptions.
Safaricom’s Commitment to Reliability
Safaricom stated that the upgrade is part of its long-term commitment to providing secure, reliable, and worry-free financial services.
“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 notice read.
Introduction of Fintech 2.0 Platform
The telecoms giant revealed that the upcoming upgrade is its most significant since 2015. It will introduce Fintech 2.0, a next-generation core platform designed to strengthen resilience, expand capacity, and unlock advanced AI-driven innovations.
“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 Safaricom CEO Dr Peter Ndegwa.
Key Benefits of the New M-Pesa Core
- Increased capacity: Transaction processing capacity will grow from 4,500 to 6,000 transactions per second, with potential to scale up to 12,000 transactions as demand grows.
- Enhanced resilience: The platform introduces an active-active architecture across multiple hosting sites, ensuring higher uptime and minimal service interruptions.
- Innovation-ready: Fintech 2.0 lays the groundwork for advanced, AI-driven financial services that can anticipate customer needs.
What Customers Should Do
Safaricom advises customers to plan their mobile money transactions ahead of the maintenance window. Those who depend on M-Pesa for business, online payments, or emergency transfers should complete transactions before 12:30 AM on September 22.
Industry Context
The upgrade comes at a time when mobile money services are experiencing unprecedented growth in Kenya. According to the Central Bank of Kenya, M-Pesa now processes billions of shillings daily, making its reliability critical to the economy. Safaricom’s proactive investment in infrastructure signals its determination to maintain leadership in the fast-evolving fintech space.
SEO-Optimized FAQs
1. When will M-Pesa services be unavailable?
On Monday, September 22, 2025, from 12:30 AM to 3:30 AM.
2. Why is M-Pesa undergoing a system upgrade?
To introduce the Fintech 2.0 core platform, which strengthens resilience, expands capacity, and enables AI-driven innovation.
3. Will all M-Pesa services be affected?
Yes. Money transfers, withdrawals, payments, airtime purchases, and other M-Pesa-related services will be inaccessible during the maintenance period.
4. How will the new system benefit customers?
It will handle more transactions per second, reduce downtime risks, and pave the way for advanced financial products and services.
5. What should customers do before the downtime?
Plan and complete critical transactions before 12:30 AM on September 22 to avoid inconvenience.
Conclusion
The temporary unavailability of M-Pesa services on September 22, 2025, underscores Safaricom’s push to future-proof its mobile money platform. By moving to Fintech 2.0, the company is not only boosting capacity and reliability but also positioning M-Pesa to deliver next-generation financial solutions to millions of Kenyans.