Safaricom slips new promo offers into M-PESA transactions to Airtel
Safaricom appears to have quietly rolled out a new, rather unusual behaviour inside the M-PESA SIM Toolkit, and it’s already sparking debate across Kenyan..
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Safaricom has introduced new promotional pop-ups within its M-PESA SIM Toolkit, offering discounted data and minutes bundles to users attempting to send money to Airtel Kenya or purchase Airtel services. This move, seen by some as uncompetitive behavior, has also become a "hack" for savvy users to access cheaper Safaricom bundles.
- Users are seeing offers like KES 20 = 1.25 GB for 1 hour or KES 10 = 100 minutes until midnight, significantly cheaper than standard offers.
- The M-PESA promotions appear when users initiate transactions towards Airtel while using their Safaricom wallet.
- Some users are intentionally initiating fake Airtel transactions to trigger the discounted Safaricom bundles for their own use, then canceling the original transfer.
- This development follows claims by Safaricom's Ethiopian team that the M-PESA app is being blocked on Ethio Telecom’s mobile data network.
- Safaricom has also added a new mandatory recipient phone number reconfirmation step for M-PESA transactions, aimed at reducing wrong transfers.
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Safaricom Involved in KES 245B Stake Sale and M-PESA Service Updates - December 2025
The Government of Kenya has outlined nine conditions for Vodacom to acquire a 15% stake in Safaricom as part of a KES 245 billion deal giving Vodacom majority control. This divestment aims to raise between KES 240.5 billion and KES 244.5 billion for the National Infrastructure Fund and the Sovereign Wealth Fund. In separate service updates, Safaricom introduced a new confirmation step for M-PESA transactions via its SIM Toolkit, requiring users to re-enter the recipient's number to reduce wrong transactions. The company also introduced new promotional pop-ups within its M-PESA SIM Toolkit, offering discounted data and minutes bundles to users attempting to send money to Airtel Kenya.
