Mpesa: everything you need to know about the service
Never heard about Mpesa? You’ve missed something then! Since a decade, Mpesa is a vital tool for your money transfers to Africa. It’s the best mobile money service in the continent, but also in India or Eastern Europe! If you need to send money to your relatives, this article is made for you. Let’s discover this service to understand how it can help you!
Mpesa service presentation
Mpesa was created in 2007 by Vodafone. As you might know, Vodafone is owning Vodacom and Safaricom, the two biggest mobile network operator in Kenya and Tanzania. Mpesa was designed to be the money transfer and micro-financing service attached to these operators.
With its quick success, Mpesa extended to many countries, as Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, India or Romania. Thanks to Mpesa, you can pay your bills, receive your salary, get a loan, pay your daily furniture and much more. For all your Mpesa transactions or your Mpesa wallet operations, you’ll have to follow a process. Let’s have a look on Mpesa share price, and then we’ll find how to register on Mpesa.
Mpesa share price
If you want to check Mpesa’s share price, you can’t: Mpesa is not a company, it’s a service owned by Vodafone. Looking for Mpesa’s owning companies share price will tell you if you can trust this money transfer service or not.
- Vodafone’s share price is facing a slow decreasing since 2018. As it was coming back since the end of 2019, the company’s share price crashed like every network operator in March 2020 with the Covid-19 crisis. Now, it’s increasing again and it has reached 124,68 GBX on the London Stock Exchange.
- Vodacom is Vodafone’s branch in Tanzania, South Africa and Congo. As for it’s mother company, Vodacom has known a decreasing since 2018 and it has crashed in March 2020. But Vodacom’s share price has reached again its former levels with 12 422 ZAC on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
- For Safaricom, which is Vodafone’s antenna in Kenya, the situation is different. The company’s share price is increasing constantly since 2016. Actually, the share price value is 31,39 KES on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.
The different offers you can find on Mpesa
With Mpesa Kenya, you may find different offers which we listed below:
- Lipa Na Mpesa: this is the mobile money service with two different options. You can use Mpesa Paybill for remote payments. You just have to inform a business number of the entity you are paying. With Mpesa Buy Goods, you’ll be able to pay for any goods and services if the retailer also uses Mpesa.
- Mpesa Business till: if you have a business or if you are a retailer, the Mpesa Business till will permit you to collect payments and use your Mpesa money freely. This is an extension of Lipa Na Mpesa!
- Pochi La Biashara: with this product, food vendors or small kiosk owners will be able to separate business revenue from their own funds on their Mpesa wallet.
- Lipa Kodi: if you have to pay a rent to your landlord, real estate or housing agency, Lipa Kodi will get it simplify for you and secure for your monthly transactions.
If you want to subscribe to these offers, you’ll have to create your Mpesa wallet. Among these different services, you’ll also find much more options for your particular situation. For instance, Lipa Karo will help your with school fees collection. As you can see, every transaction of your daily life is took in charge by Mpesa Kenya!
Now, let’s learn a bit more about Mpesa mobile money. The mobile money service is the central point for all of the listed offers. It’s time to discover how to register on Mpesa, how to load your e-wallet via Mpesa and even more!
Mpesa mobile money presentation
Mpesa mobile money is the origin of Vodafone’s Mpesa. Pesa means money in Swahili, the most spoken language in Kenya and Tanzania. In order to use Mpesa mobile money, you’ll have to register and become an Mpesa Agent. Once you’ll be an Mpesa Agent, you’ll be able to perform many tasks:
- Register as an Mpesa Customer
- Deposit cash into your Mpesa wallet
- Withdraw cash from your Mpesa wallet
- Get some help as an Mpesa Customer
You can use your Mpesa in one of the 160,000 Mpesa agent outlets all around Kenya. But before engaging yourself, just check together the registration and some key informations about Mpesa mobile money.
Send mobile money with Mpesa
In order to register, you need an Identification document, as a Kenyan National ID or a valid passport. You have to present it to an Mpesa agent outlet or a Safaricom shop. With your ID, you also need a mobile phone and a Safaricom SIM card. Then, you’ll be guided until signing the registration form. To activate your account, select “Activate” on the Safaricom menu and enter the PIN received by SMS.
If you want to send mobile money, you can transfer it to any other mobile phone user. First, deposit your money on your Mpesa wallet. Enter the payee phone number and your PIN, you both will have to confirm the transaction. Confirm that the information is correct and press OK. Confirm the name of the recipient, and that’s it!
Here are some key informations:
- Maximum Mpesa balance: KSHs 300,000
- Maximum amount to send via Mpesa: KSHs 150,000
For Mpesa charges, here is a list of Mpesa paybill rates:
List of Mpesa paybill rates
Complete table: minimum and maximum paybill rates
| Minimum | Maximum | Rates |
|---|---|---|
| 7,500 | 9,999 | 83 |
| 10,000 | 34,999 | 110 |
| 35,000 | 49,999 | 198 |
| 50,000 | 70,000 | 220 |
For Mpesa withdrawal rates:
List of Mpesa withdrawal rates
Complete table: minimum and maximum withdrawal rates
| Minimum (KSHs) | Maximum (KSHs) | Mpesa charges |
|---|---|---|
| 200 | 2,500 | 34 |
| 2,501 | 5,000 | 67 |
| 5,001 | 10,000 | 112 |
| 10,001 | 20,000 | 197 |
If you look for better charges, check our solution, Monisnap, for fair and easy money transfers!
Reach the Customer Support
You might have some troubles when using Mpesa for the first time. Let’s see how to recover money sent to wrong number via Mpesa! To avoid wrong transaction, press any number or letter and press send within 25 seconds.
For the customer support, call 234 or 200/100 to initiate the reversal. It will be done if the money sent is still available on the recipient Mpesa wallet. Confirm the reversal by sending the message to 456. You will receive and SMS if the operation is successful.
If you aren’t an Mpesa customer, you can call KCB Contact Centre on (020) 3287000 / 0711087000 or PesaPal Customer service on 020 212 4722.
Send mobile money on a Mpesa wallet with Monisnap
Not convinced by these rates? Urgent need to send money to someone using a Mpesa wallet? Don’t wait and try Monisnap, our solution for quick, cheap and easy money and mobile money transfers.
Just follow the process, and your friend or family abroad will receive MoMo in a few seconds!
- Identify on Monisnap mobile app
- Choose the country you want to send money in
- Choose the amount of money you want to send
- Enter your beneficiary mobile phone number
- That's it! The payee can immediately use the money available in his Mpesa wallet
Simple, isn’t it? Your first money transfer is FREE! After that, it will cost you only 0.99£ per transfer, whatever the amount. Try it.
⚡ What is mobile money?
Mobile money is a money transfer service for those who can't use traditional banking system. The money is linked to your mobile operator, can be used by everyone and even converted!
📞 How can I notice the payee that I topped-up his phone?
Don't worry! Allo by Monisnap will send him an automatic SMS to notice him that his phone has been recharged. If you want, you can modify the SMS and personalize it!
✈ Is it possible to top-up a phone without a Safaricom SIM?
Of course! You can top-up a phone even if you doesn't have the same operator. Just look on the app or the website and find the operator of the recipient. We work with more than 600 network operators!
✔ Do I have to pay charges with Allo by Monisnap?
Well, if you use our solution, you'll have to pay an extra-fees like always! But be sure that we've got the best tariffs of the market and that our charges are not as high as Mpesa's.
Sebastien Seyer