BAD NEWS FOR KENYANS AS SAFARICOM MAKES HUGE MPESA ANNOUNCEMENT

Kenyans who lost their loved ones or left unwithdrawn funds from old M-pesa lines may soon be in for a windfall.

This is after Safaricom announced that it will transfer over KSh 200 million to the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) starting today.
Nation reports that the money is set to be transferred to UFAA as part of the Telco’s ongoing reconciliation of mobile wallets.
According to the firm, the exercise began in June by encouraging M-pesa subscribers to withdraw any forgotten monies in their old lines or from numbers that belonged to deceased relatives.

“At the start of the exercise back in June, we had KSh 266 million in unclaimed assets, some of which had already been claimed once we notified customers,” read part of the statement by Safaricom.

The deadline for withdrawing was yesterday, August 31, which leaves the Telco with the burden of generating a list of deceased customers especially those whose kins have not come forward.

As at the time of filing this story, Safaricom was still compiling the names and figures of the unclaimed funds.

“In instances where funds for such persons have already been submitted to the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority, they can then lodge the process with the authority,” the statement continued.

It has to be noted that clients would have had an easier way of claiming the funds by simply dialling *405#, but the process will now be more complicated once the financial assets authority takes over.

How to claim a deceased relative’s money
Safaricom’s policy on M-Pesa and M-Shwari says that the balance should stay in the account of the deceased until claimed.

You can only claim this moneyif you are the executor of the will or personal representative.

The documents to be provided by the next of kin also depend on the circumstance of the customer’s death.

Where an M-Pesa subscriber dies and has written a will, the next of kin will be required to present to Safaricom copies of the death certificate, ID of next of kin and grant of probate.

If an M-Pesa subscriber dies without a will, the next of kin will be required to present letters of administration.

Sourced from Tuko