[kictanet] Reversing MPESA Transactions in a Today's World - Deja Vu?

Thu May 25 11:06:53 EAT 2017

Haahaa,
For the first time in my life since I started using MPESA 10years ago, I finally made a payment to a wrong number!
And it was not a small amount  - judging by the middle class Kenyan standards, of which I assume I belong to :-)
So anyway, I have never felt my heart beat so fast. My head felt like it was exploding, I think the blood supply to my brain had doubled.
I decided to call the 'lucky' recipient and see if I could negotiate my money back.  She thought I was a conman.  And she kindly told me she is not in the mood for 'Kamiti-type' of conversations.
OK. I knew I was done. What next?   But I thought I had pressed 'CANCEL' button! Why did Safaricom still send the money???
Anyway, I knew 'some' people in Safcom. So they just have to sought me out...otherwise am finished.  But 'the people' were not picking the phone!  This was truly turning out to be my day of reckoning.
So now am thinking what is the general Safaricom help line? Then I remember that  line is always busy, better use Twitter. So I tweet to Safcom, and I sms them. Meanwhile I keep trying 'the people'.
Anyway, to cut story short. Both Safcom Twitter & Safcom SMS help line and also 'the people' eventually came through for me and my money was reversed successfully.  I was then strongly advised to  use the SAFCOM MPESA mobile app which I had downloaded 3weeks ago but never bothered to use.
So I decided to use it to resend my transaction. Brilliant experience. If you have a smart phone, just dump the traditional MPESA USSD  and move onto the mobile app. Less Stress. Normal heartbeat.
And yes, I have to eat my words. I think I like the reversal process - despite its weakness :-)
walu.

      From: Walubengo J via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
 To: jwalu at yahoo.com 
Cc: Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com>
 Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2017 6:09 PM
 Subject: Re: [kictanet] Reversing MPESA Transactions in a Today's World

Ok.
So the 'authority' here is the police?  I just needed to know and confirm that indeed the process leads to a dead end and is potentially not exactly useful to the customer.
Disclaimer:Am not blaming Safaricom here. I am just saying the process is broken and we should collectively fix it. Innovators?  Any one?
walu.

      From: Mwendwa Kivuva <Kivuva at transworldafrica.com>
 To: Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com>; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> 
Cc: Mwendwa Kivuva <kivuva at transworldafrica.com>
 Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2017 1:15 PM
 Subject: Re: [kictanet] Reversing MPESA Transactions in a Today's World

That question was answered by Steve during the #Talk2Safaricom week. He said something like "Safaricom is not in the litigation business. If there are disputes, they will be referred to the relevant dispute resolution mechanisms in our laws" (not verbatim, but something like that)
An example apart from the mpesa issue is when you loose your phone! Safaricom will not even attempt to block the phone (not the sim card). They will refer you to police to trace your phone, and follow with all criminal procedures etc. Happened to me. The stolen phone is still very active. The police are not cooperative. Safaricom says they can only act on police notice. 
A policeman friend tells me when they recover the phones, they own them. *Identity protected because this policeman is not allowed to talk to the media ;-)

______________________
Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya
twitter.com/lordmwesh

On 13 May 2017 at 12:26, Walubengo J via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

Ok.
Which authorities? The Church, The regulator, CA,   the  Cops? The Chief, the Magistrate?
And what are the 'authorities' supposed to do and approximately how long do they usually take to resolve?
#Asking4Myself.
walu. 

      From: simon njoroge <snjoro45 at gmail.com>
 To: Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com> 
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke >
 Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2017 11:20 AM
 Subject: Re: [kictanet] Reversing MPESA Transactions in a Today's World

Recipient party is called before completion of reversal is done .... In case of dispute complainant is referred to the authorities 
RegardsSimon
On Sat, May 13, 2017 at 11:15 AM, Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com> wrote:

I just have a problem with Safaricom making reversals because someone has complained.
What happens to my Taxi man when he drops me in town, I pay him through MPESA, then quickly call Safaricom to complain? Safaricom will have shortchanged a hard working Kenyan to favor some complaining Kenyan.
Methinks the whole reversal process is flawed and assumes every one is 'well-behaved'.
Unless I am missing something and plead to be educated.
walu.

      From: simon njoroge via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke >
 To: jwalu at yahoo.com 
Cc: simon njoroge <snjoro45 at gmail.com>
 Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2017 8:07 AM
 Subject: Re: [kictanet] Reversing MPESA Transactions in a Today's World

@ Mercy if you do call Safaricom for C2C transactions they will reverse the money as long as the receipt has not withdrawn the cash...For C2B  merchants have the ability to do the reversal and most do effect the reversal when contacted by the customer. 
In addition, Safaricom has done more to help the issue of wrong receipt with introduction of hakikisha (20 seconds verification) as well as introduced M-Pesa on the Safaricom app where you can pick the receipt number directly from your phone-book before sending. Granted the solutions my not be perfect for all but at least its making the effort to address customer concerns.
On USSD yes it was a killer application and still remains however the market is maturing tech-wise especially as a result the coming of cheaper smartphones and improved data speeds. Apps will soon take over and having the app was a smart move for Safaricom. 
Currently the app is at 1M downloads for both IOS and android 

 Regards
On Fri, May 12, 2017 at 11:14 AM, kanini mutemi via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke > wrote:

It's still surprising the number of complaints notwithstanding all the sieves Safaricom has in place. 
Why not allow for reversal? 
On Fri, 12 May 2017 at 11:05 Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke > wrote:

The success of Mpesa is its simplicity. The app is great, but it can only be used by a certain demographic. The USSD like SIM toolkit was the killer application. It still remains.Not holding brief for Safaricom, the 20 second verification period they give you after sending funds through C2C transactions is a very useful feature. It gives the name of the recipient, assuming you know who you are sending cash to. Of course this does not cover all scenarios especially C2B transactions. Regards Mercy,
Its even worse when you transfer money from you bank account, through mobile money, to a wrong number. Safaricom will advice you to contact your bank who are supposed to make a reversal request on your behalf. The bank will tell you to write a letter giving details of what happened and that is when you realize that you are in for a long haul. There is definitely a need to come up better way of handling the problem.
That notwithstanding, I wish to comment Safaricom for their improved customer service. Its now much easier and faster to connect to their customer care center for assistance, compared to the way it used to be a while ago. 

Best Regards 

On Fri, May 12, 2017 at 8:06 AM, Dorcas Muthoni via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke > wrote:

Great Timothy,  I am going to add that the app shows you to whom you are about to send the money before entering your PIN. Quite useful. 
Kanini, I however acknowledge that your concerns valid as no everyone is using a smartphone. 

On May 12, 2017 7:28 AM, "Timothy- Coach- Oriedo via kictanet" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke > wrote:

Hi Mercy
Have you tried the new safaricom App ? Get it from playstore and share your experience. 
It's has laid a foundation for live chatbot.

Timothy Oriedo

about.me/Timoriedo

On 12 May 2017 07:23, "kanini mutemi via kictanet" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke > wrote:

Hello everyone.
I've seen quite a number of complaints on people sending money to the wrong number. Surprisingly a lot of these instances involve 50k and above. It seems MPESA has left it up to the recepients to be kind enough to refund money sent erroneously. I see why that would make sense to a business (2 transactions is better than one). Of course a lot of Kenyans will not refund (tough economic times🤔)
I recently made a notable purchase from WordPress and realized only two minutes later that I had bought the wrong product. Good thing they have live chat for their customer support. No questions asked- they reversed the transaction. 
Now I realize the two are different; one is a seller the other one is a conveyor belt. It got me thinking however- MPESA has to keep up with the times. The explanation has always been that MPESA asks you to confirm before you press send. The number of 'I sent Kshs. X to the wrong number' posts on Buyer Beware should be enough to tell any caring provider that the system is broken.  
Digital products must be malleable and most importantly responsive to customer needs. Which is why competition is healthy- it pushes companies to care about the needs of its customers. 
Have a great day ahead. -- 
Mercy Mutemi, Advocate. 

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