Airtel Networks Kenya announced on Wednesday evening December 4, 2024, that it has resolved the technical issues that disrupted financial transactions between Airtel Money and Safaricom’s M-PESA platform.
The outage, which had affected the ability to send and receive money and make payments to M-PESA Paybills and tills, had caused inconvenience for many users relying on the interoperability of the two largest mobile money platforms.
In a statement, Airtel reassured its customers that any payments or transfers attempted during the disruption would be reversed back to their Airtel Money accounts.
“We would like to assure you that if you had sent money or made payment, please note that the money will be reversed back to your Airtel Money account,” the company said, thanking users for their patience during the outage.
The resolution marks the restoration of a vital financial link for millions of Kenyans, highlighting the central role mobile money services play in the country’s economy.
In an earlier notice, Airtel Networks Kenya alerted its customers to the technical challenges that disrupted key financial transactions between Airtel Money and M-PESA.
The issues affected services such as sending and receiving money between the two platforms, as well as payments into M-PESA tills and Paybill accounts.
“Dear Customer, please note that there are technical challenges affecting all transactions between Airtel Money and M-PESA i.e., sending money to and receiving from M-PESA, paying into M-PESA Tills and paying into M-PESA Paybills,” Airtel alerted its customers in the notice.
In the press statement, Airtel assured its users that it was working closely with M-PESA to resolve the matter urgently.
“We are working with the M-PESA team to resolve this on priority and will notify you once the issue is resolved,” the company said.
Despite the disruption, Airtel emphasized that all other Airtel Money services remained fully operational.
The telco assured its customers that they could still make payments through Airtel Paybill accounts, top up airtime, deposit and withdraw funds, and move money between their bank accounts and Airtel Money wallets.
The company encouraged users to access the aforementioned services by dialling *334#.
“All other AIRTEL MONEY services are however working fine i.e., Airtel Paybills like KPLC, e-citizen, 522533, 400200 and 247247, airtime top up using Airtel Money, deposits and withdrawals including moving funds from your bank to your Airtel Money account. Dial *334# to access Airtel Money,” the statement read,
Airtel Money and M-PESA lead the mobile money market, making seamless interoperability between the two essential for millions of users managing daily personal and business transactions.
