Safaricom has begun moving users from its standalone M-PESA app to a new unified platform, My OneApp, in a push to bring its growing digital ecosystem under a single roof and strengthen its position in Kenya’s increasingly competitive fintech market.
The company introduced My OneApp on April 2 at its Decode 4.0 engineering summit, positioning it as the next phase of its digital strategy. The app, which has been in public beta for months, signals a shift away from Safaricom’s previously fragmented approach where services were spread across multiple apps towards a more integrated user experience.
From April 3, M-PESA users started receiving updates prompting them to switch to the new platform, marking the beginning of a phased migration. While the transition is underway, the mySafaricom app is still operational, and Safaricom has not announced when its legacy apps will be fully retired.
At the heart of the move is Safaricom’s broader FinTech 2.0 ambition to evolve from a telecom operator into a full-scale technology platform by the end of the decade. By combining M-PESA and mySafaricom into a single interface, the company is aiming to simplify how users interact with its services, while also gaining deeper insights into customer behaviour and spending patterns.
The consolidation reflects both efficiency and strategy. Merging platforms with overlapping features reduces duplication, streamlines backend systems, and creates a foundation for more advanced services, including AI-driven recommendations and automation. It also addresses operational challenges tied to maintaining separate systems, from engineering complexity to user experience inconsistencies.
The timing is notable. Kenyan banks such as Equity Group Holdings and KCB Group have been improving their digital offerings, increasingly competing with M-PESA in payments, transfers, and savings products areas Safaricom has long dominated.
My OneApp is built to support that competition. Designed on a cloud-native infrastructure, the platform can handle thousands of transactions per second and integrates more than 80 third-party services, from transport bookings to health financing. This allows users to access a wider range of services without leaving the app, while Safaricom benefits from increased engagement and data insights.
The app also introduces more personalised features. Using machine learning, it can anticipate user behaviour for example, prompting recurring payments directly on the home screen making transactions faster and more intuitive.
Beyond payments, Safaricom is expanding into wealth and financial services within the same interface. Investment tools and money market offerings are now embedded into the M-PESA experience, signalling a move into territory traditionally occupied by banks and asset managers.
Ultimately, the success of My OneApp will depend on how well users adopt it. Safaricom is betting that a single, seamless platform combined with features like biometric login and personalised prompts will increase user engagement, boost revenue per customer, and lower the cost of acquiring new users.
