March 6, 2024, will mark 17 years since the launch of M-Pesa, Safaricom’s revolutionary mobile phone-based money transfer service that has transformed the lives of Kenyans.
However, something does not add up about the years M-Pesa has existed. The method used to generate M-Pesa transaction codes can form a basis for deducing that the service has existed since 2006.
An M-Pesa transaction code is a 10-digit medley of letters and/or numbers (some M-Pesa transaction codes comprise only letters). While the first three digits of an M-Pesa transaction code denote the year (first digit), month (second digit), and date (third digit) the transaction happened, the remaining seven digits are, at least from my observation, generated randomly (see Figure 1).
This year’s M-Pesa transaction codes will start with the letter S. Going back through the years to find the year that had M-Pesa transaction codes beginning with the letter A will stop the backtracking at 2006, a year before the official launch of M-Pesa.
That deduction would only be correct if Safaricom launched M-Pesa in 2006 and generated M-Pesa transaction codes as they do now (see Figure 2).
Thanks to Google, that industrial producer of information, it is possible to check what early M-Pesa transaction codes and messages looked like, and they are not anything close to what we have today.
Over the years, Safaricom has significantly changed how its system records M-Pesa transactions. Today’s M-Pesa transaction codes have more digits, and their corresponding messages contain more information than those that recorded transactions that took place between 2007 and 2016.
When M-Pesa launched in 2007, the transaction codes contained only five digits comprising two letters and three numbers (see Image 1).
The transaction message did not provide information about the transaction cost and how much a user needs to transact before depleting the daily limit.
It was not until November 2016 that M-Pesa transaction messages provided notifications about transaction fees. In July 2020, M-Pesa messages became lengthier when Safaricom introduced an alert for daily limits.
Before Safaricom introduced those changes, one had to determine the charges for an M-Pesa transaction by subtracting their previous M-Pesa balance from their current balance, then, from the difference, minus the amount of money they had sent to another number.
Knowing the transaction limit was a more hectic process that involved calling Safaricom customer care or googling.
Unlike those two significant developments, it took a shorter time for M-Pesa transaction codes to increase in length and the information that they shared.
From the five digits confirming M-Pesa transactions in 2007, the length of an M-Pesa transaction had increased to eight figures by 2010 (see Image 2).
From 2011 to 2014 (see images 3, 4, 5, and 6), M-Pesa transaction codes grew a digit longer, but it was circa 2015 that they became less abstract. From 2015 onwards (see image 7), it became possible to tell the year, month (see Figure 3), and date (see Figure 4) an M-Pesa transaction happened by decoding its first three digits.
In that year, perhaps in correspondence with M-Pesa’s growth in number of users and payment options, M-Pesa transaction codes expanded to 10 digits.
Setting the first three digits of an M-Pesa transaction code to provide information about the year, month, and date of an M-Pesa payment led to the generation of M-Pesa transaction codes with amusing and quirky connotations.
For instance, take the M-Pesa transaction codes for September 2, 2015. They all began with the digits JI2, which, when read in Kiswahili asjitu, can mean a big person, a beast, or a monster. Well, guess what? September 2 happens to be the birthday of the late former President Daniel Toroitich arap Moi.
The M-Pesa transactions of October 20, 2018, did produce a fitting connotation if their first three digits – MJK – are anything to go by. Before it was renamed Utamaduni Day, Kenyans celebrated Kenyatta Day on October 20 in honour of the nation’s first President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta (MJK).
An American who visited Kenya on November 20, 2016, and used M-Pesa that day may have found the first three digits of the M-Pesa transaction code jolting. On that day, all M-Pesa transaction codes started with KKK.
Nigerians who spent July 10, 2020, in Kenya must have felt honoured by Safaricom as all M-Pesa transaction codes for that day had OGA as their first three digits. On that day, there were Kenyans who tweeted jokes that questioned, or rebuked, Safaricom for being concerned with their personal hygiene. Oga is the Kiswahili word for taking a bath.
September 25, 2023, must have been a scary day for mourning a departed while making M-Pesa transactions. All M-Pesa transaction codes for that day began with RIP.
One can only imagine how morbid it must have been for someone who made a payment to a morgue or a funeral home or received money meant to arrange the burial of a loved one on that day.
Such M-Pesa transaction codes are in their hundreds, and it is not possible to highlight all. However, with 2024 here with us, we should expect more of such amusing and quirky M-Pesa transaction codes.
Already, I am looking forward to hearing someone complain about an M-Pesa transaction on January 13, 2024, because all M-Pesa transaction codes for that day will begin with SAD.
January 15, 2024 should be an interesting day if Safaricom decides to be cheeky with the generation of M-Pesa transaction codes. All M-Pesa transaction codes for that day will start with SAF, setting up the mobile service provider to generate M-Pesa transaction codes which read, for example, SAFARICOM1 Confirmed …
Then there are people who, on January 29, 2024, will accuse Safaricom of recruiting its users to the Freemasons or the Illuminati after they receive an M-Pesa alert with a transaction code that begins with SATAN. With that day’s M-Pesa transaction codes expected to begin with SAT, there is a possibility of someone making an M-Pesa transaction whose code will have S-A-T-A-N as its first five digits.
I do not know about you but I find it quite convenient that February 19, 2024 is between February 15, 2024 (SBF – Single Black Female) and February 22, 2024 (SBM – Single Black Male). I do not need to share the code for February 19, 2024. Do I?
Moving on, I find it strange that March 17, 2024 is not a school day. The day falls on a Sunday which makes quite an inappropriate day for M-Pesa transaction codes to start with SCH. I guess M-Pesa Foundation will keep their school open on that day.
I cannot help but feel disturbed by April 10, 2024, falling on a Wednesday instead of a Saturday because, on that day, all M-Pesa transaction codes will begin with SDA.
It is perhaps unfortunate that May does not have 33 days because it denies us the jokes and puns that the M-Pesa transaction codes for May 33, 2024, would have inspired. By now, I assume you know what those three letters are.
While wishing May 2024 was longer, the same cannot be said about June which should just be skipped because it offers little to make one proud of their creative juices. All M-Pesa transaction codes in June start with SF, an abbreviation which Americans associate with San Francisco, a city that, most likely, rarely features in the minds of Kenya.
Away from June and San Francisco, July 27, 2024 will be the best day this year to use the Standard Gauge Railway (that is assuming if it will be operating smoothly on that day). The fun of using the SGR on that day derives from M-Pesa transaction codes for that day starting with, you guessed it, SGR.
August 2024, a month where all M-Pesa transaction codes will begin with SH, will be a month screaming for silence with its climax coming on August 17, 2024 (SHH), just three days after August 14, 2024 (SHE).
The M-Pesa transaction codes for August 18, 2024 starting with SHI sets it up well for Safaricom to generate an M-Pesa transaction code whose fourth digit is a T. It is will be the most real day of 2024 if an M-Pesa transaction code for that day has TE or TTY following the third digit.
September 30, 2024 would be quite a good day to send Cristiano Ronaldo some money via M-pesa because all M-Pesa transaction codes will begin with a SIU. I bet serious Lionel Messi fans will boycott M-Pesa on that day.
October 2024 should compensate for the fun lost for May not having 33 days. All M-Pesa transaction codes in October 2024 will start with SJ, and that can only have Kenyans, particularly Nairobians, thinking of a pub along Moi Avenue that is reputed to have closed only once since it started operating.
November 2024, with that month’s M-Pesa transaction codes starting with SK, threatens to be like June. However, the possibility that Wiper Party leader Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka may buy a watermelon on November 22, 2024 and pay for it via M-Pesa, inspires hope that it has the potential to serve some quirky M-Pesa transaction codes. All M-Pesa transacation codes on November 22, 2024 will start with SKM.
As far as December 2024 goes, the possibility of M-Pesa transaction codes for December 30, 2024 having the letter T as a fourth digit should sure see the year end on a quirky note.
I know there are more quirky dates in 2024 that may have skipped my mind, so I will leave the chart below (Figure 5) for you to unearth more gems, then share your observations with me on Twitter (X), @Anagram254.
DISCLAIMER: The information on the evolution of M-Pesa transaction codes from 2007 to 2015 was deduced using images published in the links shared in the captions of image 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. There could be other key changes in that evolution that I may have missed since I could not access as many messages of M-Pesa transactions that happened between 2007 and 2015 as I wanted.
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I hope you enjoyed reading this article as much as I took pleasure in writing it. If you appreciate the content and wish to support my writing, you can do so through M-Pesa Till Number 8749220 and see if you can get a quirky M-Pesa message. Thank you.
