Your dead relative can still sambaza M-Pesa cash

 Your M-Pesa PIN is your secret. That shouldn’t be hard for Kenyans to keep. In many instances, couples don’t even know the PINs of their spouses. So, picture this: You have over Sh100,000 in your account, but nobody knows the PIN. What happens in case you die? You wouldn’t want that money to  revert to the government as unclaimed asset, right? Well, it turns out that you can have access to a deceased kin’s M-Pesa account money.

Unclaimed funds for Helb

Sometime last year, an umbrella university students’ union forwarded a proposal to the Ministry of Education to have some money from unclaimed financial assets channeled to Helb (Higher Education Loans Board) in a bid to increase funding. City Biz contacted the Unclaimed Financial Assets Authority (UFAA) on the status of the funds as at the first quarter of 2015. According to the authority, the total unclaimed assets surrendered to it as at April 1 stood at a staggering Sh2.8 billion.

Safaricom posted information on their website to the effect that funds surrendered to the UFAA are those that have been dormant for a period of two years, either due to inactivity on an M-Pesa account or where a customer is deceased and the funds have not been claimed by the next of kin.

How to claim M-Pesa cash

But “the funds held in M-Pesa accounts can be passed on to a customer’s next of kin once claims from a beneficiary are validated. We require that the next of kin should visit any Safaricom shop and provide certain documents for inspection and approval before any funds can be released,” reads the release on their website.

If the amount in the deceased’s account exceeds Sh30,000, a claimant will be required to provide a copy of the death certificate, copy of ID or grant of probate; in the case where an M-Pesa subscriber had left a will prior to death. In the absence of a will, the next of kin will be required to provide a letter of administration.

In the case of M-Pesa accounts with less than Sh30,000, the release says the next of kin would be required to provide a death certificate and an affidavit administered by a commissioner for oaths and sworn by the claimant (burial permits are not acceptable). In addition, a letter from the provincial administration, say the area chief, would be needed.
Your money doesn’t have to die with you.