Safaricom has announced a pivotal change in M-Pesa’s data handling, which will now conceal the sender’s phone number during money transfers.
In a statement on March 11, 2026, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa emphasized that safeguarding customer information is crucial to the company’s operations as M-Pesa evolves.
“As M-Pesa celebrates its 19th anniversary this month, we recognize that the trust of our 40 million users is our foremost responsibility,” Ndegwa stated. “This trust relies not only on M-Pesa’s reliability but also on our ability to protect users’ personal information.”
Ndegwa acknowledged user feedback regarding privacy concerns during transactions.
Under the new update, recipients will only see limited details of the sender during M-Pesa transactions, aimed at reducing personal information exposure and addressing privacy issues.
“We have heard customer concerns and are enhancing our service to minimize personal information shared during Send Money transactions. This update will help protect sender privacy while ensuring smooth transactions,” Ndegwa explained.
He also noted that recipients can request the sender’s full details within 24 hours of the transaction.
In this case, the sender will receive a prompt to approve the sharing of their full name and phone number. “If the recipient requests the sender’s full details, they can do so within 24 hours. The sender will then be prompted to consent. If approved, the recipient will receive the sender’s full name and number via SMS. If declined or unresponsive within 2 hours, the request will not proceed,” Ndegwa clarified.
Safaricom plans to roll out this feature in phases to ensure a smooth implementation while maintaining platform safety and reliability.
“We aim to launch this feature by the end of the month and will subsequently extend it across our entire M-Pesa ecosystem to ensure the continued safety and security of our services,” he added.
