Safaricom tackles fraud risks with M-Pesa update
On Techpoint Digest, we discuss Safaricom's M-Pesa update, Showmax's shutdown in April 2026, and the launch of Starlink in the Central African Republic.
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Bonjour,<br />
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Victoria from Techpoint here,<br />
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Here’s what I’ve got for you today:<br />
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Safaricom tackles fraud risks with M-Pesa update<br />
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Showmax to shut down in April 2026<br />
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Starlink launches in Central African Republic<br />
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Safaricom tackles fraud risks with M-Pesa update<br />
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M-PESA<br />
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In Africa’s fast-growing fintech ecosystem, privacy is becoming the next big battleground. For years, sending money meant exposing your phone number, a small detail that opened the door to spam, scams, and unwanted contact. Now, Safaricom is trying to change that.<br />
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Safaricom is rolling out phone number masking on M-Pesa transactions, meaning users will no longer have their full numbers visible when sending or receiving money. Instead, only partial digits and limited identity details will show, while recipients can request full details, subject to the sender’s approval.<br />
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What this means is a shift towards “data minimisation” in everyday payments. Whether you’re paying a merchant via Till or PayBill, or sending money to a friend, your personal contact details won’t be fully exposed anymore. The move comes after approval from the Central Bank of Kenya and will apply across peer-to-peer and merchant transactions.<br />
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Why does it matter? Scale. M-Pesa processes tens of millions of transactions daily, making it one of Africa’s most critical financial rails. Masking phone numbers reduces the risk of fraud, unsolicited contact, and social engineering, issues that have quietly followed the growth of mobile money across the continent.<br />
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The context is bigger than Kenya. As mobile money becomes infrastructure across Africa, regulators and fintechs are under pressure to build “privacy by design” systems. Safaricom’s move signals where things are heading: less data exposure, more user control, and tighter trust in digital payments, especially as platforms like M-Pesa expand into everything from savings to stock trading.<br />
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Showmax to shut down in April 2026<br />
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Showmax<br />
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Subscription models might not be the g...
