Safaricom PLC has announced its most significant M-PESA upgrade since 2015, introducing Fintech 2.0—a next-generation platform designed to boost resilience, expand transaction capacity, and enhance service reliability.
The upgrade increases M-PESA’s throughput from 4,500 to 6,000 transactions per second (TPS), with scalability to 12,000 TPS as demand grows.
Scheduled Maintenance Set for September 22
To implement the upgrade, Safaricom has scheduled a system migration on Monday, September 22, 2025, from 12:30 am to 3:30 am. During the upgrade, all M-PESA services will be temporarily unavailable. The company has advised customers to plan transactions accordingly and apologised for any inconvenience.
Strengthening Resilience and Service Continuity
The new M-PESA Core introduces active-active architecture across multiple hosting sites, ensuring minimal service interruption and higher fault tolerance. The platform’s cloud-native foundation supports faster deployment of new products and instant scalability.
Supporting Kenya’s Digital Economy
Group CEO Dr Peter Ndegwa said the upgrade reflects Safaricom’s long-term commitment to innovation and customer trust.
“This is a bold investment in M-PESA’s future. Fintech 2.0 allows us to scale for today’s needs and prepare for tomorrow’s opportunities,” he said.
Chief Financial Services Officer Esther Waititu added that the transformation is essential to support M-PESA’s growing transaction volumes.
“We are processing over one billion transactions today. Fintech 2.0 ensures M-PESA remains always-on and future-ready,” she said.
Key Features of Fintech 2.0
- Microservices Architecture: Enables modular deployment of new services without disrupting the ecosystem
- Cloud Infrastructure: Supports rapid scaling and improved performance
- Real-Time Monitoring: Enhances system visibility and operational efficiency
- Fraud Detection: Strengthens security through predictive analytics and self-healing capabilities
- Cross-Border Payments: Expands reach for SMEs and regional commerce
M-PESA’s Impact and Reach
Launched in 2007, M-PESA has grown into Africa’s largest mobile financial services platform, serving over 70 million customers across 170 countries. In Kenya, it has empowered 32.1 million users and driven financial inclusion from 26.7% in 2006 to 83.7% in 2021. The platform supports payments, savings, credit, insurance, and e-commerce, generating over KES 139.9 billion in revenue as of 2024.
Looking Ahead
Safaricom says Fintech 2.0 is more than a technical upgrade. It is a strategic shift to position M-PESA as Africa’s leading fintech platform.
“This transformation creates scale, speed, and agility,” said Waititu. “It’s our statement of intent that M-PESA will remain the backbone of the digital economy on this continent.”
