You are likely to lose several clients if you don’t have active till or paybill number for your business. This comes as the world is embracing cashless payments due to its unmatched convenience. In Kenya, M-pesa is the leading mobile banking platform with over 20 million active users. Needless to say, over 50% of your daily clients will prefer to pay with M-pesa. They can send money to your personal mobile number or a business till/paybill number. The problem with the former is that they can reverse the transaction at their will. With a business till or paybill number, clients cannot reserve the payment. This is how you get your business till or paybill from safaricom
LIPA NA MPESA PRODUCTS
Safaricom has different products for different business models. You should opt for the one that suits your need.
M-PESA Business Till (Buy Goods Till)
The M-PESA Business till enables business owners to collect payments on the till and use the money collected to make other transactions directly from the till such as:
- Pay to another Buy Goods Till
- Make Payment to a mobile number
- Send money to a utilities (Paybill) till
- Withdraw cash at an M-PESA agent
- Sell Airtime to customer using collected funds and earn commission
It is recommended for businesses that do not require to capture any additional information from the customer. For instance retail, supermarkets, fuel stations, restaurants, salons etc
Bulk Payment (Business To Customer)
B2C enables an organization to make payments/disbursements. For example, from Company’s paybill to mobile phones of individuals in real time at the click of a button. e.g. Salary payments, dividend payments, Sacco payments
Short Term Paybill
A short-term paybill is a product that allows for fundraising of funds for different needs e.g. medical bills, funerals, weddings, education purposes and for charity/catastrophes. e.g. Wedding Fund, Funeral Fund, Education Fund
Long Term Paybill
This product is meant for collecting payments from clients with user accounts with a given institution. For instance a client can deposit money to their bank account through M-pesa paybill.
KYC documents required
Before applying, ensure all KYC documents are in place. Now check the documents required for each product below:
Individual M-PESA Business Till (MPESA ONLY)
This product settles to owner’s m-pesa number only. It bears your personal full names. To apply for Individual, you will need to submit the below documents
1. Copy of National ID – Back
2. Copy of National ID – Front
Individual- M-PESA Business Till (M-PESA & BANK)
This till bears your personal full names and settles funds to owners m-pesa number and/or bank account. To apply for Individual, you will need to submit the below documents
1. Copy of Cancelled cheque or letter from bank stating bank details as per certificate of registration
2. Your Individual KRA PIN Certificate
3. A Copy of National ID – Back
4. Copy of National ID – Front
Sole Proprietor M-PESA Business Till (MPESA ONLY)
It bears business name and settles funds to owner’s M-pesa number. To apply for Sole Proprietor, you will need to submit the below documents:
- A Copy of Certificate of Registration or Business Permit No
2. Your Copy of National ID – Back
3. Finally, Copy of National ID – Front
Sole Proprietor M-PESA Business Till (MPESA AND BANK )
This bears business name and settles funds to owner’s M-pesa number and bank account. To apply for Sole Proprietor, you will need to submit the below documents:
1. Copy of Cancelled cheque or letter from bank stating bank details as per certificate of registration
2. Certificate of Registration or Business Permit No
.3. Copy of Individual KRA PIN Certificate
4. A Copy of National ID – Back
5. Your National ID – Front
Limited Liability Company’s M-PESA Business Till
Bears company’s name and settles to owners m-pesa number and/or bank account. To apply for Limited Liability Company, you will need to submit the below documents:
1. Annual Returns with filling receipt
2. Cancelled cheque or letter from bank stating company bank details
3. Company KRA PIN Certificate
4. Copy of Certificate of Incorporation
5.A Copy of CR12 – Validity of 90 days (3 months) or recent
6. Directors’ National ID or Passport – Back
7. Directors’ National ID or Passport – Front
8. Filled, stamped or sealed resolution letter signed by Directors of the company
9. Kenyan Director KRA PIN Certificate
For more information, you can visit safaricom’s self on-boarding portal here . It should take 24-48 hours within working days for safaricom to process your paybill/till number.
