Safaricom has announced a new update to M-PESA aimed at keeping customer information safer while making it easier for people to send and receive money. The new update is referred to as the P2P Data Minimization update and is set to be rolled out on March 24, 2026.
The new feature was unveiled during a media session at the Michael Joseph Centre, Safaricom Headquarters, on Wednesday, where company leaders explained how it works and why it matters for customers.
Sharon Holi, the head of customer privacy at Safaricom, explained that this was part of the long-term strategy towards improving the privacy of the company’s customers.
“We started this journey in 2020 by protecting phone numbers for some M-PESA services, then moving on to employee access, statements, and merchant APIs. Now, we are taking the next step for the everyday person-to-person transactions.”
This update works by ensuring that the phone number of the sender is partially hidden when sending money to someone. This means that the middle part of the sender’s phone number will be hidden, but the first and last names of the sender are still visible.
This helps in the prevention of the abuse of the sender’s phone number.
If one feels the need to see the full phone number, they can request this by sending the message to the transaction message to 334.
Safaricom said the update will also help reduce fraud and prevent unwanted calls or messages. Dr. Peter Ndegwa, CEO of Safaricom, commented during the briefing, “Privacy and security are at the heart of everything we do. M-PESA has grown to be part of daily life for millions of Kenyans, and we are committed to keeping it safe and reliable.”
This update is also set to make the experience of paying strangers safer, such as when paying the parking attendant or the taxi driver. The update also helps in the reduction of cases of fraud and the sending of unwanted calls and messages.
The update by M-PESA is significant as M-PESA has over the years been at the heart of the digital payment system in Kenya and has over 14 million daily active customers.
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