A Safaricom customer faced a frustrating dead end after accidentally purchasing KSh 10,000 worth of airtime via his bank. Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa during a past event. Inset, M-Pesa airtime feature. Photo: Safaricom. Source: UGC The customer sought help to reverse the transaction, but the telecommunications giant stated that it could not reverse the transaction. The customer, known as Edu on social media platform X, sought help from Safaricom’s customer care handle, @Safaricom_Care, only to be told a reversal was “not possible” because the funds originated from a bank. The incident has sparked a public debate about consumer protection and the limitations of digital payment systems in Kenya.
“Hello @Safaricom_Care, I bought 10000/= worth of airtime instead of mpesa money from my bank. How can I reverse this process?” Safaricom stated. Why did Safaricom refuse to reverse the transaction? In a series of public replies on X, Safaricom’s support team explained that their reversal capabilities are strictly limited to transactions initiated and completed within the M-Pesa ecosystem. Since the KSh 10,000 airtime purchase was processed as a direct bank transaction, the company stated the customer must contact his bank to initiate any refund. “The reversal should be done by your bank since this was a bank transaction. We only reverse transactions initiated from M-pesa. Please contact your bank and apologies for this experience ^JN,” the care team explained in a follow-up reply. What has been the public reaction? The explanation did little to satisfy many online observers: @kurialance said: “This is just the most selfish response I’ve seen. What does he do with 10k worth of airtime? Surely safaricom needs to introduce a feature to solve such a problem. And can help him in the meantime.”
@jeffkarisa said: “Watu wanarespond na feelings badala ya akili. The source of funds is the bank, ingekuwa ni from mpesa then Safaricom wangereverse. But sasa Safaricom can easily deduct the funds from airtime and credit it kwa mpesa. Ni kutaka hawataki.” @OchiengMaloKE said: “Wrong transactions should be reversible on application. @Cofek_Kenya should take this up.” @CoolMaxxArts said: “Apa saa ndio weya mnaboo. Everything is possible. Get down and work a possible solution by January such incidents money reversed.” What should customers do in such a situation? According to Safaricom’s directive, the onus is on the customer to immediately contact their bank to dispute the transaction. Banks have procedures for investigating and potentially reversing erroneous electronic payments, but success is not guaranteed and the process can be lengthy. The incident serves as a critical reminder for users to double-check payment amounts and destinations before confirming transactions, especially when using direct bank integrations or bank-to-wallet services.
By Elijah Ntongai
