Safaricom is revamping its cornerstone mobile money platform, M-PESA, to meet the escalating demands of the modern digital economy. Group CEO Dr. Peter Ndegwa confirmed in a recent interview on KTN’s Trading Bell Show that the massive upgrade, dubbed “M-PESA Fintech 2.0,” is ready to roll out, bringing with it a suite of highly-requested social features and critical, AI-enabled security enhancements.
The new platform is not just a backend migration; it’s a complete architectural overhaul built for the future. Dr. Ndegwa emphasized that the revamped core promises “more speeds, more capacity, therefore more resilience”, setting the stage for a new generation of M-PESA features designed for convenience and security.
Tap to Pay, wallet sharing, and bill splitting
Fintech 2.0 addresses a long list of features that have been high on customer wishlists, fundamentally changing how money moves socially and commercially.
Tap to Pay: A second, smarter attempt
Perhaps the most significant addition is the native ability for “tap to pay” functionality. This is a pivotal moment, as the majority of new smartphones in the Kenyan market are now equipped with NFC (Near Field Communication), setting the stage for seamless, contactless payments.
This is Safaricom’s second attempt at a tap-and-go solution. The company previously introduced M-Pesa 1Tap around 2017, a system relying on NFC-enabled cards, wristbands, or phone stickers. While innovative, the 1Tap product largely failed to gain traction due to low merchant adoption and operational hurdles. The inclusion of the feature in Fintech 2.0 suggests a modern, smartphone-first approach, leveraging existing technology to finally deliver the frictionless payment experience users desire.
New social money features
Fintech 2.0 will also integrate social money management tools directly into the M-PESA app:
- Share your wallet: Users will gain the ability to grant transactional access to their M-PESA funds to trusted individuals. Dr. Ndegwa highlighted the use case of allowing your partner, son or daughter to use your wallet in your absence. Although it might be controversial, this feature introduces unprecedented flexibility for household and family spending.
- Split the bill: The pain point of calculating shares after a group meal or a night out is finally being solved. The platform will introduce a native feature allowing users to quickly and easily split the bill using M-PESA, simplifying shared expenses for groups of friends and colleagues.
AI is the new security layer
Crucially, the new M-PESA platform isn’t just faster. It’s smarter. Dr. Ndegwa confirmed that Fintech 2.0 is built with deep AI integration, making security proactive rather than reactive.
“This fintech 2.0 also has it’s AI enabled so that it allows us to detect fraud earlier to protect customers,” Dr. Ndegwa noted. This means the system will employ advanced artificial intelligence to strengthen fraud detection, identify suspicious activity instantly, and protect customers from increasingly sophisticated scams like SIM swap fraud. The AI capabilities extend beyond security, enabling the platform to offer tailored financial propositions, such as targeted credit services, and improve efficiency across the entire service ecosystem.
The transition to M-PESA Fintech 2.0 is designed to ensure the platform remains the country’s dominant and reliable financial engine, capable of supporting high-volume usage while rapidly adapting to introduce new features.
You can watch the full interview below:
