Safaricom Explains Why Some Paybill Payments Are Not Working

Safaricom has explained why some customers are experiencing difficulties while using their M-Pesa service specifically the Paybill payment mode. 

In a customer notice issued on Tuesday, January 23, the telecommunication company attributed the downtime to service intermittency affecting some PayBill payments. 

However, Safaricom clarified that it has deployed its technical team to fix the error which had left hundreds of Kenyans stranded.

"Dear Customer, We are experiencing a recurring service intermittency affecting some PayBill payments," Safaricom announced.

"The issue is under resolution by our technical team, we shall inform you once normal services resume," the telco assured its users.

"We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused. Thank you for your patience."

This is the second downtime affecting their services that has occurred in less than a month. 

On January 9, all M-Pesa services were unavailable due to a maintenance issue. The service was absent on the M-Pesa app, USSD code, and SIM card tool.

The service was later restored with the company downplaying reports that it was integrating its systems with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

Safaricom Chief Finance Services Officer Esther Waititu said KRA and M-Pesa are two different entities governed by the Data Protection Act hence sharing of customers by the telco was not permissible.

“Let me be clear that there was no integration, KRA themselves also publicly spoke that there was no integration happening between M-Pesa and KRA,” Waititu said.

“KRA is a separate business entity and Safaricom and M-Pesa specifically are different business entities and when you separate business entities sharing of data is not permissible and we are governed under the Data Protection Act; we cannot share data of our customers.”