1. The “Nionyeshe Message” Standoff
In Nairobi, the M-PESA SMS is the ultimate receipt. Without it, you’re just a person making claims. On Friday, February 6, that receipt system failed.
The Matatu Problem: Conductors, already stressed by a week of intermittent strikes and fare hikes (up to 50% on some routes like Ruiru and Thika), are refusing to let passengers off until they see a message.
The “Fake SMS” Fear: Because edited SMS screenshots are a common scam, conductors are hyper-vigilant. When a real passenger says “The money has gone but the message hasn’t come,” it’s often met with a “Shuka ulipe cash” (Alight and pay cash).
2. Fintech 2.0: The Growing Pains of 10,000 TPS
Why is this happening now? Safaricom is currently in the middle of its most ambitious transition yet: Fintech 2.0.
The Goal: A cloud-native system capable of 10,000 transactions per second (TPS).
The Glitch: While the core “ledger” (the part that moves the money) is now ultra-fast, the legacy SMS Gateway—the part that tells you the money moved—is struggling to keep up with the new speed. This “feedback loop” failure is what TechTrendsKE calls “the fragility in the edges of the ecosystem.”
3. The Merchant’s Dilemma: “Show Me the App”
It’s not just passengers; small business owners are also stranded.
The Business App Lag: Shopkeepers using the M-PESA Business App are reporting that even when a customer pays, the transaction can take up to 5 minutes to reflect in their “History.”
The Solution for Merchants: Don’t rely on the customer’s phone. Dial *234# and select Merchant Services to check your own “Partner Self Statement.” This is a direct pull from the Safaricom server and is more reliable than waiting for a notification.
