M-PESA is a mobile money service in Kenya that allows users to send and receive money, pay bills, and make purchases through their mobile phones. A Till number is a unique identifier used by businesses to accept mobile payments through M-PESA. Customers can quickly pay for goods and services by entering the Till number and the payment amount on their phones.
Many people have found themselves accidentally paying money to the wrong Till number and sometimes the wrong phone number. Safaricom provides a service called Hakikisha which enables M-Pesa customers to confirm the recipient’s name and/or number, before completing a transaction. Although this service is helpful, someone could still enter the wrong Till number accidentally while making purchases.
Therefore, it is essential to know how to reverse M-Pesa Money sent to the wrong phone number or Till number.
How to Reverse M-Pesa Money Sent to the Wrong Number/Till Number
There are four different methods to request a transaction reversal. You should know that it is easier to reverse money sent to a wrong number than a Till number. When you purchase any products and services online via the Till number, you can request a reversal, but if it fails, you can as well contact the merchants to refund you. Below are the four methods used to request a reversal when you M-Pesa the wrong person.
Using SMS
To request an M-Pesa reversal using SMS, follow the procedures below;
- Go to your Phone’s Message app and copy the message sent from M-Pesa on completion of the Transaction.
- Then send the full message to 456. Make sure you copy the whole message without omitting any word, or better still if your phone Message app has the forward feature, just forward the message to 456.
- You will receive a confirmation message from “Reversal” that M-Pesa has received your request for reversal and you will receive an update within two hours.
- In no more than two hours, you should receive your reversed money back into your account.
Chatting Zuri
You can request a reversal form M-Pesa using Zuri. All you need to do is to save Zuri Whatsapp line- 0722000100. Then follow the following procedures;
- On your smartphone, head over to Whatsapp and start a conversation with Zuri.
- Type Hello.
- Zuri will present M-Pesa privacy of policy and options for customers to choose from.
- Reply with option 2- Help and Reversal
- Reply with option 1- Reverse
- Enter the transaction code or copy paste the entire message sent to you showing successful transaction of the transaction you want to reverse.
- confirm your phone number.
- Enter your transaction pin.
- You will get notified on Whatsapp that the request has been received and you will be notified when the transaction is completed.
Using M-Pesa app
You can also request an M-Pesa Reversal via the M-Pesa app. You should note that you can only request for reversal when you just concluded a transaction via the app and you notice that the amount is erroneous. The transaction has to be completed before you can revert it when using the app. You also can not reverse historical transactions, that is, request a reversal after you have already close the transaction or exit the app. To request a reversal;
- Tap on the Reverse transaction icon on the M-Pesa app immediately after you complete a transaction and realize it was erroneous.
- Choose the reversal reason – e.g. wrong recipient, wrong amount, others
- Click Submit, and your request will be processed instantly.
- You will receive a notification that the reversal request has been received and you will receive an update within two hours.
- You will receive a message with the heading “Reversal”. Once your reversal is successful, you will receive feedback showing that your transaction reversal was successful
Using MySafaricom app
Just like the M-Pesa app, you can only request a transaction reversal via the mySafaricom app only if you just concluded a transaction using the app.
- Tap on the Reverse transaction icon on the Mysafaricom app immediately after you complete a transaction and realize it was erroneous.
- Confirm you want to request a reversal.
- Click Submit, and your request will be processed instantly.
- You will receive a notification that the reversal request has been received and you will receive an update within two hours.
- You will receive a message with the heading “Reversal”. Once your reversal is successful, you will receive feedback showing that your transaction reversal was successful
What Happens When M-Pesa Reversal Fails
Your M-Pesa Reversal might fail sometimes, especially when using the M-Pesa Paybill services or Till number. You can always contact customer services to help you with any error that maybe encountered. But there are some reasons why your M-Pesa transaction may fail;
- Transaction was carried out more than two hours ago.
- The recipient did not approve the reversal. The recipient will also have to approve the transaction before it will be received. When this happens, contact the customer care and issue your complaints.
Conclusion
Even though M-Pesa has given users the option to check and validate a phone number and Till number, people still accidentally M-Pesa the wrong person. You can request a Reversal by calling the customer care by dialing 234, sending the full transaction message to 456, by chatting Zuri or via the M-Pesa and Safaricom App.
