MPESA Charges 2022: Safaricom's Rates and Tariffs

In this guide, you will discover a detailed list of the MPESA charges you will have to pay in 2022.

What is M-PESA?

M-PESA is a mobile money transfer service available in Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, Ghana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Egypt, and India. Also, the service has expanded to Afghanistan, South Africa, Romania, and Albania.

Safaricom rolled out M-PESA in 2007. Since then, the service has changed the lives of millions of Africans by increasing the ease of sending and receiving money and paying for goods and services. Moreover, M-PESA has partnered with banks like the Kenya Commercial Bank enabling users to save and borrow money.

The popular mobile money has more than 30 million active users in Kenya and 31.4 million users outside Kenya as of 2019.

How to Use M-PESA

To register for the mobile money service, you need a Safaricom SIM card and a valid registration document like a national ID, a passport, a foreigner certificate, or a military ID. Next, visit an M-PESA agent to access free registration services.

You can access M-PESA through the Safaricom menu located on the SIM toolkit of your phone or through the Safaricom app. Here are some of the things you can do with M-PESA:

To send money, go to the “Send Money” option and enter the recipient’s phone number, the amount you wish to send, and your M-PESA PIN.
If you want to withdraw cash, visit your local M-PESA agent. Tap “Withdraw Cash” on your phone and then type the agent’s number, the amount you want to withdraw, and your PIN.
To pay for bills like electricity, go to “Lipa Na M-PESA” then select “Pay Bill.” Enter the pay bill number of your service provider, your account number, the amount you want to pay, and your PIN.
When you want to pay for goods at a supermarket or restaurant, go to “Lipa Na M-PESA” and select “Buy Goods and Services.” Type in the merchant’s till number, the amount you want to spend, and your PIN. Note that paying for goods and services via a till number is free. However, Safaricom charges merchants a one per cent fee of the value of the transaction.

For all M-PESA transactions, users will receive a confirmation pop-up message where they can cancel the transaction if they have entered the wrong details. Additionally, you will receive a receipt message via SMS for every transaction you make. This message will detail the amount you have sent, spent, or received, your current balance, and the transaction charges.

Moreover, you can also use M-PESA to buy airtime for your phone or for somebody else and you can deposit money to your M-PESA account by visiting an M-PESA agent.

What’s more, you can also save and borrow money through KCB M-PESA or M-Shwari, and send money globally using M-PESA Global.

MPESA Charges

Below, you can find a breakdown of MPESA charges in 2021.

Min (Kshs.)	Max (Kshs.)	Withdrawal from M-PESA agent	Transfer to unregistered users	Send money to other M-PESA users	Transfer to other mobile money users
1	49	N/A	N/A	Free	N/A
50	100	10	N/A	Free	N/A
101	500	27	45	Free	11
501	1,000	28	49	Free	15
1,001	1,500	28	59	26	26
1.501	2,500	28	74	41	41
2,501	3,500	50	112	56	56
3,501	5,000	67	135	61	61
5,001	7,500	84	166	77	77
7,501	10,000	112	205	87	87
10,001	15,000	162	265	97	97
15,001	20,000	180	288	102	102
20,001	35,000	191	309	105	105
35,001	50,000	270	N/A	105	105
50,001	150,000	300	N/A	105	105

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Kenya in March 2020, the maximum amount per transaction was Kenya shillings 70,000 and the maximum amount of money you could transfer to other M-PESA users for free was Kshs 100. Also, the maximum account balance was Ksh 100,000 before the pandemic but Safaricom has increased it to Ksh 300,000.