Safaricom Moves M-PESA Users to My OneApp

Safaricom has started moving users from its standalone M-PESA app to a new all-in-one platform, My OneApp, as part of a broader push to unify its digital ecosystem and defend its fintech lead against increasingly competitive Kenyan banks. The company introduced Safaricom My OneApp on April 2 during its Decode 4.0 engineering summit. After several months in public beta, the platform signals a shift away from fragmented services toward a single, integrated experience.

From April 3, M-PESA app users began receiving updates directing them to My OneApp, marking the start of a phased transition. The mySafaricom app is still operational for now, with no clear timeline for when older apps will be retired.

FinTech 2.0 in Action

This consolidation sits at the core of Safaricom’s FinTech 2.0 strategy, which aims to evolve the company beyond telecoms into a full-scale technology platform by 2030. By combining M-PESA and mySafaricom into one interface, Safaricom is reducing the need for app switching while creating a more seamless environment to track user behaviour and spending.

Although the company has not confirmed when legacy platforms will be shut down, the direction is clear. Bringing together M-PESA’s more than 6.5 million users and mySafaricom’s smaller base reflects a deliberate move to eliminate duplication, streamline systems, and simplify its API infrastructure. It also creates a foundation for deeper automation powered by AI-driven prompts and recommendations.

Rising Pressure from Banks

The timing is strategic. Banks such as Equity Group Holdings and KCB Group have been upgrading their mobile platforms to rival M-PESA’s simplicity, targeting payments, transfers, and savings—areas Safaricom has long dominated.

Internally, the move also addresses operational inefficiencies. Maintaining separate apps meant duplicated codebases, layered security systems, and disconnected user experiences—an increasing burden for engineering teams.

My OneApp is built on a cloud-native system capable of handling up to 6,000 transactions per second, positioning it as a more powerful and scalable platform. It integrates more than 80 third-party services, from transport bookings to health insurance, allowing Safaricom to keep users within its ecosystem while capturing both revenue and data.The platform also introduces smarter functionality. Using machine learning, it can anticipate user behaviour for example, prompting recurring payments like electricity bills directly on the home screen.

New financial tools are also embedded into the experience, including the Ziidi money market fund and share-trading features, bringing investment services directly into the M-PESA flow and putting Safaricom in closer competition with traditional financial institutions.

Ultimately, the success of My OneApp will depend on how often users return. Safaricom is betting that a single, secure interface enhanced with biometric access will increase user engagement, boost revenue per customer, and lower the cost of acquiring new users.