Safaricom has unveiled Fintech 2.0, a major upgrade to M-PESA. This latest upgrade incorporates AI, improves reliability and expands cross-border payments
Speaking at the media briefing, Safaricom’s Chief Financial Services Officer, Esther Waititu, said the transformation is critical to meeting the platform’s growing scale. “We have to move to technology and infrastructure that allows us to process well beyond the one billion transactions we’re handling today. We must ensure M-PESA is always on and available for our customers,” she said.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will be central to Fintech 2.0. It will enable real-time fraud detection, better efficiency and personalized services such as tailored payment, savings, borrowing and insurance options.
The upgrade also strengthens Safaricom’s ability to serve small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and expand its cross-border payment capabilities.
“This transformation creates scale, speed, and agility. We are calling it Fintech 2.0, the next level,” said Waititu. “It is our statement of intent that M-PESA will remain the backbone of the digital economy on this continent.”
Safaricom emphasized that Fintech 2.0 is more than a system change, it represents its ambition to position M-PESA as Africa’s leading fintech platform that offers seamless, borderless transactions and secure financial services accessible to all.
The rationale behind the migration is the increasing transaction volumes customer behavior is evolving over time.
Fintech 2.0 will entail:
- Microservices – Adopting a microservices architecture to remain future-ready, allowing the delivery of new solutions and services to customers without disrupting the overall ecosystem.
- Cloud – Moving to scalable cloud infrastructure to support growth.. Fintech 2.0 will increase current capacity from from 4,500 transactions per second (Tsp) to 6,000 Tsp.
- Artificial Intelligence – Using AI to provide customized solutions, detect and prevent fraud before it occurs. It will also enhance transaction speed by detecting dips in performance.
The migration to Fintech 2.0 is scheduled from 00:30 to 03:30 on Monday, 22nd September. “For 18 years, M-PESA has continued to transform lives across Kenya, connecting our customers to opportunities every day. This upgrade is intended to strengthen our systems so we can keep delivering worry-free financial services,” the company said in a statement.
Also Read: How Safaricom Is Shaping FinTech 2.0 in Africa
