Safaricom Unveils Fintech 2.0, Transforming M-PESA into Africa’s Most Advanced Financial Platform

Safaricom has rolled out its most ambitious upgrade to M-PESA since 2015, launching Fintech 2.0—a next-generation platform that harnesses AI, boosts transaction capacity, and fortifies resilience to meet the surging demands of Africa’s digital economy. Announced on September 19, 2025, this overhaul positions M-PESA as a future-ready fintech juggernaut, ready to power financial inclusion across the continent.

The new M-PESA Core ramps up processing from 4,500 to 6,000 transactions per second, with scalability to 12,000, handling up to 100 million daily transactions. Its active-active architecture across multiple hosting sites ensures near-zero downtime, guaranteeing 99.999% availability. Advanced AI drives real-time fraud detection, self-healing systems, and personalized services like tailored savings and credit options, while a cloud-native foundation enables rapid product rollouts and instant scalability. “This upgrade is a bold investment in M-PESA’s future, reaffirming our commitment to innovation and customer trust,” said Safaricom Group CEO Dr. Peter Ndegwa.

Since its 2007 debut as a simple money transfer service, M-PESA has evolved into Africa’s largest fintech ecosystem, serving over 60 million users across Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, DRC, Ghana, and beyond. In FY2025 oedema, it processed 37.15 billion transactions worth KSh 38.29 trillion ($292.3 billion), generating KSh 161.1 billion ($1.23 billion) in revenue—a 15.1% year-on-year surge. Fintech 2.0 enhances this ecosystem with microservices for seamless updates, cloud infrastructure for speed, and AI-driven insights for SMEs and cross-border payments.

The upgrade, completed during a three-hour window on September 22, 2025, aligns with Kenya’s $14.5 billion digital payments market forecast by 2028. Esther Waititu, Safaricom’s Chief of Financial Services, emphasized its necessity: “With 100 million daily transactions and growing, we needed infrastructure to match global trends.” As Africa’s mobile money market eyes $3.66 billion by 2033, M-PESA’s Fintech 2.0 sets a new benchmark for speed, security, and innovation in the global fintech race.