Safaricom is expanding the role of M-PESA beyond sending and receiving money, with plans to build a broader financial and digital services platform that includes investments, wealth management, merchant services and artificial intelligence-powered tools.
The strategy reflects the company’s ambition to become more than a telecommunications provider, using its established mobile money platform to offer customers and businesses a wider range of services.
Speaking in an interview with CNN journalist Victoria Rubadiri, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa outlined how the company intends to develop M-PESA and strengthen its position in financial technology.
The expansion is already taking shape through several products. In January 2025, Safaricom launched Ziidi Money Market Fund, allowing customers to invest through M-PESA. It later introduced Ziidi Trader in February 2026, giving users access to shares listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
In October 2026, the company also introduced Ziidi Shari’ah, a Sharia-compliant money market fund designed to give customers another investment option. By March 2026, Safaricom reported 2.2 million active customers using its wealth management services, with assets under management reaching KSh21.1 billion.
Beyond investments, Safaricom is working to make payments and business transactions easier. Its partnership with Pesapal introduced tap-to-pay and dynamic QR payment options at participating merchant locations. The company is also exploring ways to help small businesses manage cash flow through services such as Fuliza Ya Pochi.
Artificial intelligence is expected to play a role in how customers interact with these services. Safaricom’s My OneApp, launched in April 2026, combines M-PESA and MySafaricom into one platform. The company says AI will help personalise the experience by making relevant services easier for users to find and access.
However, expanding into more financial services also brings responsibilities around reliability, customer protection and data security. Safaricom will need to maintain users’ trust as it introduces more complex services through a platform already used for everyday transactions.
With billions of transactions processed annually, M-PESA gives Safaricom a strong foundation for this next phase. The bigger ambition is to turn a familiar mobile money service into a platform where customers can pay, invest, manage businesses and access more digital services in one place.