Safaricom Reveals How Kenyans Can Recover Money Sent to Wrong M-Pesa PayBill Number

Safaricom has explained how M-Pesa customers can recover money mistakenly sent to the wrong PayBill number, revealing a little-known shortcode that helps users obtain contact details of the business that received their money.

In an advisory published on Tuesday, November 3, the telecommunications company clarified that it does not directly reverse PayBill transactions because the money is transferred to the receiving organisation’s account.

Instead, customers who make payments to the wrong PayBill number are required to contact the organisation that received the funds and request a refund.

The clarification followed an exchange between a customer and Safaricom Care on X, where the company outlined the procedure for handling incorrectly sent PayBill payments.

According to Safaricom, customers should contact the receiving organisation for assistance with reversing the transaction.

“For the reversal of the PayBill transaction, kindly contact the organisation for assistance,” Safaricom Care advised.

However, locating the organisation’s telephone number can be difficult, particularly when customers do not have its contact information.

To address this challenge, Safaricom revealed that customers can forward the original M-Pesa confirmation message to 456 to obtain the recipient organisation’s contact details.

Once the details are received, the customer can call the organisation and explain the transaction error before requesting assistance with recovering the money.

Safaricom also highlighted its virtual assistant, Zuri, as another channel customers can use when seeking assistance with payment disputes and locating merchant information.

The assistant is available through Safaricom’s digital platforms and can guide customers through various service-related enquiries. Where necessary, unresolved concerns can be escalated to a human customer care representative.

The company further encouraged customers to be careful when making PayBill payments by confirming the business number and account reference before completing transactions.

This is particularly important because M-Pesa PayBill services are widely used by Kenyans to pay school fees, electricity bills, water bills, insurance premiums, loan repayments and other services.

Unlike sending money directly to an individual, PayBill payments are processed through business accounts, making the reversal procedure different.

Customers are therefore encouraged to retain their M-Pesa confirmation messages because they contain important transaction information that may be required when seeking a refund.

The latest clarification offers an important reminder to M-Pesa users to verify payment details before confirming transactions, while providing a practical way of locating businesses when mistakes occur.

TheMorningSignal feedback-opera-news-app@opera.com