Get your money back: Safaricom shares steps to reverse wrong paybill payments
This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.
- A customer named Peter Mulimwania took to X to complain about Safaricom's handling of a wrong paybill payment
- Peter accused a customer care agent of hanging up mid-call when he sought help reversing the transaction
- Safaricom responded to the complaint and outlined the steps M-Pesa users should follow to request a reversal
TUKO.co.ke journalist Japhet Ruto has over eight years of experience in financial, business, and technology reporting, offering insights into Kenyan and global economic trends.
Safaricom has clarified the process for reversing M-Pesa payments sent to the wrong Paybill number, after a customer publicly accused the telco's support staff of hanging up on him during a call for assistance.
The customer, Peter Mulimwania, shared his frustration on X, directing his complaint at Safaricom over what he described as a careless handling of his issue.
"Safaricom customer care is reckless. A customer pays money through the wrong paybill; we call for assistance, only for the customer care representative to hang up on the call. Are you really here to serve us?" Peter wrote.
How Paybill Reversals Work
Responding to the complaint, Safaricom clarified that it does not handle Paybill reversals directly. Instead, the process is managed by the organisation that received the funds.
"Hello Muli, kindly note that paybill reversals are handled directly by the receiving company. Please forward the M-Pesa message to 456 to obtain the organisation's contact for reversal," Safaricom said in its reply.
The telco also urged customers to adopt its One App and Hakikisha services, describing them as tools that can help prevent such errors in the first place.
Hakikisha is an M-Pesa feature that allows users to confirm the recipient's details before completing a transaction, giving senders an opportunity to verify they are sending money to the correct number or Paybill.
What M-Pesa Users Should Do
Based on Safaricom's guidance, customers who send money to a wrong Paybill should forward the original M-Pesa confirmation message to 456.
Safaricom will then provide the contact details of the receiving organisation, enabling the customer to request the reversal directly from that company.
The distinction is significant: while Safaricom facilitates the M-Pesa network, control over funds already credited to a paybill account rests with the business or institution holding that account.
Customers should therefore be prepared to engage that organisation directly once they obtain its contact information through the 456 shortcode.
Safaricom has consistently encouraged users to double-check paybill numbers and recipient details before confirming any payment, as errors can complicate and delay the recovery of funds.
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In other news, Airtel Kenya reduced the allocations on all four Smarta prepaid bundles, cutting data, SMS and calling benefits for subscribers.
The KSh1,500 monthly bundle took the biggest hit, losing 58GB of data and 80% of its SMS allocation.
On-net minutes fell by as much as 77%, while the two weekly plans each lost half their data.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
Reporting originally appeared via TUKO. Read the full source for additional context.