A huge majority of a Kenyan’s financial life includes having a mobile money, often Mpesa, account. This is where they keep money while on the go with their devices.

There have been cases of people who have passed away with a lot of money in their Mpesa accounts. According to the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA), unclaimed Mpesa deposits grew to Sh. 3.2 billion at the end of 2023.

The amount accounts for Sh. 96.3% of dormant mobile money accounts in Kenya. A part of it includes Mpesa savings in MShwari. Additionally, there was Sh. 114.3 million and Sh. 7 million unclaimed from Airtel and Telkom Kenya.

When a person becomes deceased, what happens to their Mpesa balances? Fortunately, the solution to this query is fairly simple and straightforward. There is a legal process to reacquiring that money.

Here is the step-by-step guide for how to recover the amount:

Notify the Mobile Service Provider

In this case, the claimant must visit any of Safaricom’s Customer Care or Retail Shops and notify them of the account holder’s demise. They will be required to provide several documents for inspection and approval before the amount can be disbursed. These include:

1. The claimant’s National ID card
2. The deceased’s Death Certificate
3. An Affidavit/Statutory Declaration witnessed by an advocate stating facts about the claimant’s relationship to the deceased
4. Grant of Letter of Administration – Safaricom states that this is “issued after the court is satisfied that a person has the capacity to act as a legal representative to the estate of a deceased person who did not leave a will appointing a personal representative.”
5. Grant of Probate – Legal document issued by the court to an executor of the estate of a deceased person who left a will providing for what should happen to his estate
6. Confirmation of Grant of Probate/Confirmation of Grant of Letters of Administration
7. Letter from the Provincial Administration – This is a letter from the chief, DC or PC confirming details of the deceased and beneficiaries

Mpesa Account Frozen, Balance Disbursed

After presenting the above documents to a mobile service provider, the claimant will receive a notification of death for the mobile subscriber. Their Mpesa account will then be frozen to prevent further dealing and protect their money.

The documents will be received and verified in detail by the Mobile service provider. The claimant will be required to provide a registered mobile money account (Mpesa in Safaricom’s case) belonging to the beneficiary, to which the funds will be disbursed.

Once all documents have been found to be in order, the funds will then be transferred into the beneficiaries account.

Safaricom introduces Standing Order feature on M-Pesa

What happens to Unclaimed Funds?

In most cases, when mobile money balances become dormant and remain unclaimed, after two years, the funds will be deemed idle and transferred to the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA).

When this happens, the mobile money provider cannot process claims, hence the claimant will be required to visit UFAA offices to raise the matter. The following documents will be required to claim as a beneficiary.

1. Completed Beneficiary claim (Form 4B) duly commissioned by a lawyer.
2. Completed Indemnity Agreement (Form 5) duly commissioned by a lawyer
3. An original official letter received from the holder confirming the remittance of unclaimed financial assets
4. Certified copy of the claimant’s National ID card and/or Passport
5. Copy of claimant’s KRA PIN certificate
6. Copy of certificate of death
7. Certificate of Confirmation of Grant from the High Court of Kenya/Certificate of Summary Administration issued by the Public Trustee or Deputy County Commissioner
8. Original Affidavit if names differ between National ID, KRA PIN and holder documents or are initialled in any of the documents
9. Payment details indicated on the Payment Details form

10. A Bank/Mpesa statement of an active account/phone number, current deposit slip or withdrawal slip clearly showing the account or Mpesa name and number to confirm payment details provided in Number 9.