Safaricom has announced a new privacy feature on M-PESA that will conceal the sender’s phone number during money transfer transactions.
In a statement on Wednesday, March 11, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said protecting customer information remains central to Safaricom’s operations as M-PESA continues to evolve.
"As M-PESA turns 19 this month, we are reminded that the trust of our over 40 million M-PESA customers, who rely on this platform every day, is our greatest responsibility.
"That trust is built not only on the reliability of M-PESA, but also on how well we protect the personal information of those who use it," he said.
Ndegwa explained that the company had taken into account feedback from users who raised concerns about privacy when sending money through the service.
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"We have listened to customer concerns about privacy and are introducing a new enhancement that minimizes the personal information shared while conducting Send Money transactions on M-PESA," he added.
According to Ndegwa, under the new feature, recipients will only see limited information about the person sending them money.
He added that recipients who need the sender's full details may request from Safaricom within 24 hours of the transaction.
"With this update, recipients will see limited details of the sender, helping to protect their privacy while ensuring transactions are completed seamlessly. If the recipient needs the sender’s full details, they can request us for them within 24 hours of the transaction," he explained.
Ndegwa said the process will also give senders control over whether their full information can be shared with the recipient.
According to the Safaricom CEO, a request system will allow recipients to seek the sender’s details, but only with the sender’s consent.
"The sender will receive a prompt asking whether they approve sharing their full details. If accepted, the recipient will receive the sender’s full name and mobile number via SMS. If declined, or if there is no response within 2 hours, the request will not go through," he further said.
Safaricom said the feature will be rolled out in phases to ensure the feature works smoothly while maintaining the safety and reliability of the platform.
"We will be launching this feature by the end of this month, and plan to roll this out to the rest of our entire M-PESA ecosystem in subsequent phases, to ensure that our services continue to remain safe and secure for all our customers," he concluded.
This comes a day after Safaricom clarified why M-PESA statements appear with redacted phone numbers and explained the process customers must follow if they want to access a full version.
In a statement on Monday, March 9, Safaricom explained that the redaction of phone numbers is part of its compliance with data protection regulations.
"The phone numbers are redacted due to the data protection policy. Once you request for a statement, an SMS is sent with the password to enable you access the statement," the company said.
Safaricom further clarified that customers who require the complete, unblurred version of their M-PESA statement must provide an abstract to facilitate the process.
"To access an unblurred statement can only be done from a Safaricom shop and you need to get an abstract to acilitate the process," the company added.
