Safaricom to Suspend M-Pesa Services for Scheduled Upgrade on September 22

Safaricom has announced that all M-Pesa services will be temporarily unavailable on Monday, 22nd September 2025, due to a planned system upgrade. The downtime is set to take place from 12:30 AM to 3:30 AM, a three-hour period that the company says has been carefully chosen to minimize disruption to customers.

In a customer notice, the company said: “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.”

During the maintenance, users will not be able to send or receive money, pay bills, purchase airtime, or access other M-Pesa services. Safaricom assured customers that the move is necessary to improve service delivery and maintain reliability. “The timing of this maintenance activity has been planned to result in minimal inconvenience to our customers,” the notice added.

The firm also expressed regret for the disruption, stating: “We apologize for any inconvenience that may be caused and thank you for your continued support.”

M-Pesa, which has been in operation for 18 years, is now one of the most widely used mobile money services in the world, connecting millions of Kenyans to financial opportunities daily. Its importance to both individuals and businesses means any downtime has significant impact, though Safaricom has made efforts to schedule such upgrades during off-peak hours.

The company emphasized that the exercise is part of ongoing improvements designed to enhance customer experience and secure the platform as digital transactions continue to expand rapidly in Kenya.