Safaricom has been the leading money transfer mode in Kenya since launching M-Pesa services in Kenya in March 2007. Around 2015 they introduced Lipa Na Mpesa, a service where you buy goods and services from outlets through an assigned number unique to the business.
This helped business owners to separate personal funds from business income. Paybill numbers are also used to pay utilities like tokens, water, and TV cable subscriptions. However, man is to error and a lot of people have lost money through accidentally paying to the wrong till/pay bill number. Here’s how you avoid losing funds in case you send money to the wrong recipients: as an introduction
Safaricom introduced Hakikisha, a Mpesa reversal system to avoid erroneous transactions. Hakikisha is where the name of the person you are sending money to is displayed so that you confirm their name before sending. However, this is still not possible for pay bill and till numbers.
So if you intend to send money through a till and you miss a digit, and the money is sent to the wrong client, you can initiate a process to get a refund. This is however not a straightforward process like reversing the money from a normal mobile number.
A Step-By-Step Guide on How to Reverse M-PESA Sent to The Wrong Till or Paybill
Here’s what to do:
1. Contact Safaricom Customer Care. Dial 234 or 100. Ask them to reverse your transaction.
2. Safaricom will hold the money in the till number so as not to be utilized by the wrong client.
3. Safaricom will then call the owner of the wrong till to confirm whether they received the money. They will also confirm whether or not you were provided with a service.
4. On confirmation, Safaricom will call you back. If you say you were not served, Safaricom will call the wrong Till owner again to ask whether they will accept a reversal.
5. The money will be returned to your Mpesa account within 72 hours if they accept the reversal.
6. If the merchant refuses to accept the M-Pesa reversal, Safaricom will advise you to report the matter to the police.
It is paramount that you verify the till number before making any transactions to avoid losing money or suffering any more inconveniences. Alternatively, you can also use the M-Pesa App or Safaricom App to verify the name of the till or pay bill.
If The Reversal Fails
If the merchant of the wrong till fails to reverse an M-Pesa payment made erroneously, they risk a two-year jail term, or Kshs 200,000 fine, or both.
M-Pesa reversals may fail at times. Don’t give up yet. You may visit the Safaricom Customer Care Centre. You will be directed to the next step or they may take you through the process step by step and offer guidance.
