Safaricom has officially launched Daraja 3.0, a comprehensive overhaul of its M-PESA API platform.
According to the announcement, the launch is a pivotal shift in Safaricom’s fintech strategy, moving beyond simple payment processing to a holistic “Fintech 2.0” ecosystem that champions embedded finance and the M-PESA Super App.
The new platform is built on a modern, cloud-native architecture. The company states that this technical leap “promises improved reliability, significantly higher uptime, and faster system responsiveness, addressing historical friction points developers faced with older legacy integrations.”
One of the standout features of Daraja 3.0 is a capability introduced to allow third-party developers to build “Mini Apps.”
These are described as lightweight applications that run directly within the M-PESA Super App, granting businesses instant access to Safaricom’s millions of monthly active users without requiring customers to download separate apps.
“Daraja 3.0 is a gateway to the next frontier of fintech. By empowering developers with secure, scalable, and intuitive tools, we are unlocking new possibilities in digital finance and financial wellness. Developers play a critical role in the M-PESA ecosystem, and as we celebrate 25 years, we look forward to shaping the next era together,” said Esther Waititu, Chief Financial Services Officer at Safaricom.
The upgrade also adds support for new industry trends. It includes Internet of Things (IoT) APIs that let connected devices make payments and communicate with each other.
There is also a redesigned testing environment with an improved sandbox, making it easier for developers to simulate complex transaction flows before going live.
