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M-Pesa Charges, Limits, Till vs Paybill Explained (Kenya 2026)

By ZaKenya Editorial 2 min read
M-Pesa Charges, Limits, Till vs Paybill Explained (Kenya 2026)

Key points

  • Till (Buy Goods) is checkout: you enter a till number. The customer fee is normally KES 0 (merchant pays Safaricom).
  • Paybill is billed accounts (KPLC, schools, SHA, eCitizen). The customer fee depends on that biller’s tariff. Always read the charge on the confirm screen.
  • Send-money and agent-withdrawal bands are on Safaricom’s official charges page (last updated 4 August 2026).
  • If a till asks you to use Paybill “to avoid tax”: you may pay a customer fee you did not need. Confirm the business’s real till/paybill on a receipt, not a chalkboard only.

Verified 17 September 2026. Customer send/withdraw bands from Safaricom M-PESA Charges (page updated 4 Aug 2026). The PIN confirmation screen is the amount you will pay.

Till vs Paybill

  • Buy Goods / Till: Lipa na M-PESA → Buy Goods. Customer charge is typically free. Fuel-station tills can be an exception — Safaricom FAQs flag that.
  • Paybill: Lipa na M-PESA → Paybill → business number → account number. Some billers absorb the fee; some do not.

Send money and withdrawals (Safaricom table)

Registered M-PESA → M-PESA (KES): 1–100 Free; 101–500 7; 501–1,000 13; then stepped bands up to 20,001–250,000 108. Agent withdrawals start from the 50–100 band (KES 11) and rise with amount. ATM withdrawals: 200–2,500 = 35, up to 10,001–35,000 = 203. Deposits, registration, airtime via M-PESA, balance enquiry and PIN change: free on that page.

Open the live table: safaricom.co.ke/personal/m-pesa/mpesa-charges.

Limits

Per-transaction and daily limits are enforced in the M-PESA app and can change. Check the app (and any SMS when a send fails) rather than a blog’s “250,000 / 500,000” screenshot.

If it goes wrong

  • Sent to the wrong till/paybill: keep the SMS. Reverse via M-PESA / Safaricom customer care with the receipt number. Speed matters.
  • Charge higher than the table: you may be on Paybill rather than Till, or a special till (fuel). Screenshot the confirm screen before PIN.

Safaricom customer care: *100# or the numbers on safaricom.co.ke.