Tech giant Safaricom PLC has unveiled plans to undertake the largest upgrade of its fintech platform M-PESA, aiming to meet increasing demand for financial services from millions of customers.

In an update on Friday, Safaricom said the upgrade will be done on Monday, 22nd September, 2025 between 0:30am and 3:30am. During this period, M-PESA services will be unavailable, Safaricom said, adding that this time was chosen "to minimize disruption."

According to the company, the renovation, which introduces Fintech 2.0 capabilities, is the “most significant” upgrade of the platform since 2015.

"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," explained Safaricom PLC, CEO, Dr. Peter Ndegwa.

"To keep pace with changing trends and address daily challenges, M-PESA must leverage new technologies and upgrade its core transaction processing system," the company, which has presence in Ethiopia stated.

AI-powered innovation

The telco aims at strengthening its resilience, and expanding capacity via among others tapping into AI-powered innovation as it seeks to serve Africa's evolving digital economy.

According to Safaricom PLC, Fintech 2.0 will see the use of cloud infrastructure, a leverage that will see M-PESA better support growing volume of transactions. 

While the system initially processed 100 transactions per second, it now handles up to 100 million transactions per day. Fintech 2.0 will, however, increase current capacity from 4,500 transactions per second (Tsp) to 6,000 Tsp.

Safaricom projects that M-PESA Core has the potential to scale up to 12,000 transactions per second as demand for services increases. 

The upgrade will also be introducing an "active-active architecture across multiple hosting sites, further eliminating downtimes.

For the past 18 years, M-PESA has continually evolved from what started as a simple cash transfer platform to one of Africa's fintech ecosystems, offering avenues to settle payments, manage savings; and drive e-commerce through payments, banking, credit, and insurance.

The platform is a vital cog in the remittance scene where billions flow in not only to Kenya but other parts of Africa from the diaspora community.

"Fintech 2.0 is designed to sustain this growth and prepare the platform for the future, enabling Safaricom to deliver smarter, faster, and more secure financial solutions to individuals and businesses alike."

What's more, leveraging AI will see Safaricom offer customized solutions to millions of individual users, enabling the system to detect and prevent fraud, while enhancing transaction speed by detecting dips in performance.

[email protected]