The growth of mobile money services has come a long way, and while it is a safe bet that the sector has somehow mature, issues such as service downtime do happen in some cases. For instance, over the holidays such as Christmas, locals have been known to rely on mobile money a lot, an activity that strains seamless transactions. In the past couple of weeks, some customers have not been able to access their money in micro-lending services, particularly Airtel Kenya’s recently launched M-Fanisi.
The product, which is managed by the said telco and Maisha Microfinance Bank has been subject to systematic failures for the better of its lifetime but the issues have escalated over the past week leaving users unable to access their savings or loan services.
Over the course of the month that followed the launch of M-Fanisi, customers who had taken loans could not pay them back. This caused unnecessary distress as users were surprisingly fined for late repayment. At the same time, requests for loans could not be processed.
@AIRTEL_KE i made payemnts to m-fanisi to clear my loan but they are yet to reflect.. Phn no 0789790703
— Gakuch (@khal_agul) November 5, 2017
But why does my m-fanisi account still indicate i owe them 2200.88..direct me on how i can solve this issue
— Gakuch (@khal_agul) November 5, 2017
I could not deposit & pay M-fanisi loan I borrowed & payment date was 29th, so I was given penalty! Agents available in nchiru ain't working
— Miyogi NYABENDE (@c_nyabende) November 4, 2017
@AIRTEL_KE hello i want to pay you guys m-fanisi loan but it ain't working ,My number 0780552685,help plz I dont want you guys to f*ck me up
— Vin2m (@Vin2m) November 15, 2017
@AIRTEL_KE , is your M-fanisi loan platform still active?. I requested for a loan yesternight but the same is yet to be credited to my account. What could be the reason?
— Captain Kiruy™️ (@DKKiruy) November 17, 2017
The issue of missing M-fanisi money I was talking to you about, am getting impatient with the silent and wonder how long it gonna take.. A lady at 1522 told the cash went to my M-fanisi account but when I check the balance is zero.. Now where do I go from here.?
— Martin Kihika 🇰🇪 (@MartKihika) December 27, 2017
@airtel_ke whats wrong with your system i paid my M-Fanisi loan yesterday and u still saying that i havent paid
— Goodchance (@goodchance_) January 13, 2018
What is more, Airtel Kenya failed to offer a timely explanation for system downtime in a world where correspondence is easily done via social media pages. This paints a picture of a bigger problem, which, as mentioned, lasted for an entire week.
@AIRTEL_KE M-Fanisi is holding over 13000KES of mine and refused to release the money since 21st Jan 2018. I have called your offices over 6 times. I was in kisumu office and nothing done. All they say is MFanisi team is in Nairobi Parkside Towers. @ConsumersKenya @afuoko
— Oluoch Stephen (@oluoch1stephen) January 24, 2018
https://twitter.com/YusufGhazzali/status/955697008206999552
https://twitter.com/IanOrsini/status/956181039788863488
A quick look at Twitter shows frustrated customers, with Airtel Kenya’s handle purposely ignoring their woes.
At the moment, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Communications Authority (CA) have failed to give a directive for this matter, which is disturbing owing to their mandate in policing ICT, mobile money and banking products. As a result, customers have been forced to fight on their own, with some threatening to walk into Airtel offices for a refund.
since Monday when the issue was raised, your so called team has done nothing, pls be warned that if you don't transfer Steve's money from m-fanisi to aitel money by 2pm then we will storm your offices in ksm and show you the best way of dealing with your customers.
— The Afuoko's (@afuoko) January 24, 2018
Airtel is yet to give an explanation of what actually occurred in a blunder that could actually cost them customers and revenue. Also, this is a mobile operator that has not been doing well thanks to financial woes, legal tussles with the CA and delayed the launch of competing services such as 4G LTE.
