Between October and November 2024 alone, M-Pesa saw its subscriber base grow by more than 500,000, bringing its current subscriber base to 34 million active users ( Business Daily). These figures are not just numbers but rather show the number of Kenyans who have trusted M-Pesa services. If you have been using the M-Pesa service for various transactions, it is no secret that transaction charges must be incurred from your outstanding balance.
The M-Pesa charges mainly vary depending on the range of services offered on M-Pesa (applicable to only sending and withdrawing Cash). Other services such as Airtime Purchases, Savings, and loans have their own fees separate from the sending charges. The Lipa Na M-Pesa is one of the most innovative services available. It enables businesses to receive payments from their customers quickly. This can be through the Pay Bill or Till Numbers, which have separate charges. In this guide, we will walk you through all that you need to understand about the M-Pesa Paybill charges in 2025.
What are the M-Pesa Paybill charges in 2025?
The best thing about M-Pesa is that it keeps on innovating year in and out. For those who may not be aware, the Paybill is best used to allow businesses to get payments from their customers quickly. Today, Banks, Supermarkets, and even Schools have M-pesa pay bills. However, you must also be aware of the various transactions a customer and the business must make when using the service.
Unlike sending Money to another number or withdrawing from an agent, the M-Pesa pay bill( Business number) charges are split into three categories ( Tarrifs): Mgao, Business, and Customer Trarrifs, which have their own varying fees. They include:
Mgao Tariff Charges
Under the Mgao Tarrif, the business and the customer using the Paybill number share a transaction message. The charges are not split in half but vary depending on the transferred amount. For both, any amount transacted between Ksh 1 and Ksh 100 attracts zero (0) cost transaction, while transacting higher amounts, such as between 70,001 and 250,000, will see the business paying more Ksh and the customer paying Ksh 24, bringing the total amount to Ksh 108,00.
The complete charges for transactions in this category are shown in the table below:
| Bands (KES) | Business fee (KES) | Customer fee (KES) | Total fee (KES) |
| 1 – 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 – 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| 1,501 – 2,500 | 7 | 13 | 20 |
| 2,501 – 3,500 | 9 | 16 | 25 |
| 3,501 – 5,000 | 18 | 16 | 34 |
| 5,001 – 7,500 | 25 | 17 | 42 |
| 7,501 – 10,000 | 30 | 18 | 48 |
| 10,001 – 15,000 | 39 | 18 | 57 |
| 15,001 – 20,000 | 43 | 19 | 62 |
| 20,001 – 25,000 | 47 | 20 | 67 |
| 25,001 – 30,000 | 52 | 20 | 72 |
| 30,001 – 35,000 | 62 | 21 | 83 |
| 35,001 – 40,000 | 76 | 23 | 99 |
| 40,001 – 45,000 | 80 | 23 | 103 |
| 45,001 – 50,000 | 84 | 24 | 108 |
| 50,001 – 70,000 | 84 | 24 | 108 |
| 70,001 – 250,000 | 84 | 24 | 108 |
Business Tarric Charges
Under the business tariff, instead of sharing Transaction charges as in the Mgao Tariffs. Here, only the customer who uses the Business Paybill number incurs all the transaction Costs, and the Business pays nothing. Similarly to Mago, any amount traced between Ksh 1 and Ksh 100 is free, while the transaction charges increase as the amount also increases. For example, for a Trasction between Ksh 5,001 – 7,500, the customer will pay a total of Ksh 42, while a Trasction above Ksh 45,00 attracts a Ksh 108 fee
Below are all the Business tariff charges as of 2025:
| Bands (KES) | Business fee (KES) | Customer fee (KES) | Total fee (KES) |
| 1 – 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 – 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 0 | 15 | 15 |
| 1,501 – 2,500 | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| 2,501 – 3,500 | 0 | 25 | 25 |
| 3,501 – 5,000 | 0 | 34 | 34 |
| 5,001 – 7,500 | 0 | 42 | 42 |
| 7,501 – 10,000 | 0 | 48 | 48 |
| 10,001 – 15,000 | 0 | 57 | 57 |
| 15,001 – 20,000 | 0 | 62 | 62 |
| 20,001 – 25,000 | 0 | 67 | 67 |
| 25,001 – 30,000 | 0 | 72 | 72 |
| 30,001 – 35,000 | 0 | 83 | 83 |
| 35,001 – 40,000 | 0 | 99 | 99 |
| 40,001 – 45,000 | 0 | 103 | 103 |
| 45,001 – 50,000 | 0 | 108 | 108 |
| 50,001 – 70,000 | 0 | 108 | 108 |
| 70,001 – 250,000 | 0 | 108 | 108 |
Customer Tariff
The customer, Tarrif, is entirely the opposite of the business tarrif. Under this plan, it is the business that pays the whole transaction charges instead of the customer, as shown below:
| Bands (KES) | Business fee (KES) | Customer fee (KES) | Total fee (KES) |
| 1 – 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 – 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 101 – 500 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 501 – 1,000 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 1,001 – 1,500 | 15 | 0 | 15 |
| 1,501 – 2,500 | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| 2,501 – 3,500 | 25 | 0 | 25 |
| 3,501 – 5,000 | 34 | 0 | 34 |
| 5,001 – 7,500 | 42 | 0 | 42 |
| 7,501 – 10,000 | 48 | 0 | 48 |
| 10,001 – 15,000 | 57 | 0 | 57 |
| 15,001 – 20,000 | 62 | 0 | 62 |
| 20,001 – 25,000 | 67 | 0 | 67 |
| 25,001 – 30,000 | 72 | 0 | 72 |
| 30,001 – 35,000 | 83 | 0 | 83 |
| 35,001 – 40,000 | 99 | 0 | 99 |
| 40,001 – 45,000 | 103 | 0 | 103 |
| 45,001 – 50,000 | 108 | 0 | 108 |
| 50,001 – 70,000 | 108 | 0 | 108 |
| 70,001 – 250,000 | 108 | 0 | 108 |
What are the charges for M-PESA till payment?
Another feature of the Lipa Na M-Pesa is the Till Number, a service best suited for retail businesses, such as supermarkets, restaurants, hardware, etc., where a customer directly pays for the purchased good at the point of sale. The M-Pesa till charges differ slightly from the Pay bill/ Business number Charges.
Here, there are no tariffs; instead, Transactions are free for all customers no matter the amount they pay. However, Businesses will incur a charge of 0.5% of the payments above Ksh 200, which is capped at Ksh 200 per transaction. This means that no matter the payment amount, a customer pays the highest fee, and the business must pay Ksh 200.
| Transaction Amount (KES) | Customer Pays | Business Pays (Max KES 200) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 – 200 | FREE | FREE |
| 201 | FREE | KES 1 (0.5% of KES 201) |
| 500 | FREE | KES 2.50 (0.5% of KES 500) |
| 1,000 | FREE | KES 5 (0.5% of KES 1,000) |
| 10,000 | FREE | KES 50 (0.5% of KES 10,000) |
| 40,000 | FREE | KES 200 (capped fee) |
| 50,001 – 70,000 | FREE | KES 200 (capped fee) |
| 70,001 – 250,000 | FREE | KES 200 (capped fee) |
Note
Transactions directly made from a business till number to other entities, such as when you pay a mobile number, will incur the normal send money charges; the same applies when you pay from a till to a utility pay bill. As discussed above, the standard Paybill charges for all tariffs will apply. However, when you sell Airtime directly from the till, you will earn a 5% commission on Airtime sales.
FAQs
What are the charges for M-PESA till payment?
M-Pesa till payments only affect business owners rather than customers. For any payment above Ksh 200, a business will incur a cost of Ksh 0.5% on that amount and not more than Ksh 200 per transaction amount.
How much does it cost to pay 5000 via Paybill?
M-Paybill charges are sold under three Tariffs; for example, when transacting Ksh 5000 under the Mgao Tariffs, Where both the business and the customer share charges, the business will pay Ksh 18, and the customer will pay Ksh 16. Thus, it will cost them Ksh 34 to transact Ksh 5,000 for business and customer tariffs.
Conclusion
Well, we hope this guide has helped you understand Lipa Na M-Pesa’s various charges. As we have covered in the article, the charges will be split under various Tariffs when using the Pay bill or the business number. On the Till number, charges are applied to businesses only at 0.5% of the paid amount but capped at Ksh 200 per single transaction.
