Safaricom’s newly launched My OneApp is facing widespread login failures just days after its debut, complicating plans to phase out its legacy M-PESA and mySafaricom platforms within six months.
The Nairobi-listed company first confirmed the issue to a customer on April 4. “We are aware My OneApp has login issues, and most of the financial mini-app services are not working,” Safaricom said in a response on X. “Resolution is underway.”
My OneApp is a critical part of the company’s FinTech 2.0 strategy, a push to consolidate over 10 million users onto a single platform and defend its fintech dominance as Kenyan banks, neobanks, and fintechs build competing mobile products.
TechCabal spoke to several users who reported difficulties accessing the app, issues that were independently tested and confirmed. Some older Android devices cannot complete setup due to compatibility issues. The app also requires Safaricom mobile data during onboarding and blocks VPN users, while others who were logged out earlier this week have been unable to log back in.
Safaricom did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“I’ve been testing the app since March, but I was logged out, and even before that, it hadn’t fully migrated my transaction data, like favourite paybills, from the M-PESA app,” Paminus Osike, an IT consultant in Nairobi, told TechCabal on Wednesday.
The mobile data requirement during setup is tied to SIM-binding authentication, which could exclude a segment of M-PESA’s user base that relies on Wi-Fi or third-party data. Safaricom has yet to clarify whether the restriction applies beyond initial onboarding.
“I downloaded it on Monday after an update arrived on my device, but I haven’t been able to log in at all,” Mike Tinega, a businessman in Nyanza, told TechCabal on Wednesday.
In an earlier statement on Tuesday, Safaricom told TechCabal it will decommission both the M-PESA app and the mySafaricom app in six months.
“We intend to decommission the MPESA app and MySafaricom app 6 months after launch of My OneApp,” a Safaricom representative said. “We will ensure a smooth transition for our customers through our support channels, rapid iteration where challenges arise and continuous improvement to meet customer needs.”
My OneApp, unveiled at Safaricom’s Decode 4.0 engineering summit, is built on cloud-native infrastructure rated at 6,000 transactions per second and hosts more than 80 third-party services. The app also embeds the Ziidi money market fund and share-trading tools directly into the M-PESA flow.
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