Kenya Power urges consumers to buy tokens early ahead of M-Pesa system upgrade

The upgrade, announced by Safaricom, will occur from 12:30 am to 3:30 am, during which M-Pesa services, including airtime top-ups and bill payments, will be unavailable.
Kenya Power has urged electricity consumers to plan and purchase tokens in advance before a scheduled M-Pesa system upgrade temporarily disrupts its Paybill services on Monday, September 22, 2025.
The upgrade, announced by Safaricom, will occur from 12:30 am to 3:30 am, during which M-Pesa services, including airtime top-ups and bill payments, will be unavailable.
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In a Saturday notice, Kenya Power informed the public that during this window, the company's Paybill numbers, specifically, 888880 for token purchases and 888888 for postpaid bill payments, would be inaccessible.
As a result, consumers are advised to buy their electricity tokens ahead of time to avoid delays and inconvenience.
“We encourage you to purchase their electricity tokens in advance before the scheduled maintenance to avoid any inconvenience,” the statement read.
Kenya Power reassured its customers that alternative payment options are available through other platforms, including Airtel Money, as well as multiple banks such as DTB Bank, NCBA Bank, Family Bank, Co-operative Bank, KCB, I&M Bank, National Bank of Kenya, and Equity Bank.
Customers can use either the respective banks' USSD codes or smartphone apps for transactions.
The utility company also directed consumers to its social media pages, where real-time updates and additional information regarding the maintenance period would be shared.
Safaricom, in a prior announcement, had explained that the M-Pesa system upgrade is part of efforts to enhance the platform's reliability, security, and performance.
“For 18 years, M-Pesa has continued to transform lives across Kenya, connecting you, our customers, to opportunities every day. To support this and meet our promise to offer always-on, safe, secure, and worry-free financial products and services, we will be conducting a scheduled system upgrade on Monday, September 22, 2025, from 12:30 am to 3:30 am,” Safaricom said.
The telecom giant emphasised that the timing of the upgrade was chosen to minimise disruption and offered apologies in advance for any inconvenience caused.
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