Safaricom admits My OneApp is broken and not working as users report login failures, lag, & mini-app errors

The rollout of Safaricom’s My OneApp was supposed to be the moment the telco finally killed the friction of jumping between M-PESA and MySafaricom. Unveiled during Decode 4.0 as an AI-powered super app, the platform promised to consolidate fibre management, data bundles, and financial services into a single, sleek interface. Instead, the launch has been defined by a public admission that the foundation is shaky.

Safaricom has acknowledged that the app is currently battling login failures and that a significant portion of its financial mini-apps are simply not working. For a company that manages the literal economic plumbing of the country, "not working" is a heavy phrase to carry.

While my own experience with the app hasn’t been a total blackout, the digital chatter suggests I might be in the lucky minority. The Play Store is currently a repository of frustration. Users are reporting freezing screens during money transfers and a sluggishness that feels like a step backward from the snappy, dedicated M-PESA app they were effectively forced to migrate from.

The Backend Gamble Beneath these UI glitches is a massive architectural shift. This launch coincides with Safaricom’s "Fintech 2.0" strategy, moving M-PESA to a cloud-native foundation capable of handling 6,000 transactions per second. What we are witnessing aren't just bugs; they are the growing pains of a total rebuild of Kenya’s financial rails. The failure of mini-apps specifically suggests that the integration layer for third-party businesses is where the friction is highest. By launching with these errors, Safaricom is showing partners that their business continuity is now at the mercy of the mother app’s engineering stability.

The Connectivity Walled Garden Perhaps the most glaring oversight involves the diaspora and connectivity flexibility. Recent updates seem to have tethered the app’s soul to a Safaricom SIM and active data bundles. Users abroad have pointed out the absurdity of requiring Safaricom connectivity to log in while they are on Wi-Fi in different time zones. It is a move that trades convenience for a closed-loop system that doesn’t account for the reality of modern, global usage.

A Question of Trust This isn't a new experimental toy; it is a replacement for daily habits. By pushing M-PESA app users toward My OneApp, Safaricom is asking customers to trust their financial stability to a platform that is currently under construction in the public eye. When a user can't see their bundle balance or has to revert to the ancient SIM Toolkit because an app froze mid-transaction, trust erodes instantly.

To fix the narrative, the focus needs to shift away from "AI-powered" branding and back to the basics of reliability.