According to Central Bank of Kenya statistics, every month Kenyans receive over Ksh25 billion in diaspora remittances, which translates to nearly Ksh300 billion in year.
The money ranges from tokens from Kenyans living in the diaspora to their loved ones at home to sort school fees, fundraisers or medical expenses, to big dollar funds for investments in real estate or other ventures.
Getting this money from say the United States, UK or UAE (the regions with majority diaspora remittances) has been a hustle that often took days or weeks to complete a transaction.
Senders have often used bank transfers and international money transfer services, which come with their own limitations on getting the money to the recipient.
However, recipients in Kenya no longer have to worry about that with the launch of M-PESA Global, Safaricom’s International Money Transfer (IMT) service, which has brought the much-needed convenience and speed to sending and receiving money across borders.
Keep reading this article to find out how you can send and receive money globally using M-PESA, and what Safaricom charges for M-PESA transactions in Kenya and abroad.
What is M-PESA?
M-PESA is an electronic wallet service that lets an account holder store, send and receive money on their mobile phone. People can also use M-PESA to transfer cash or buy products and services in stores.
Once there is money in a user’s M-PESA account, the cash can be withdrawn by visiting an agent (typically in a corner shop) or transferred to others using a menu on their phone.
That makes it a quick, safe and simple way to make payments and handle money, saving people time and allowing them to focus on other things rather than making trips to the bank.
What is M-PESA Global?
This a service that enables M-PESA registered customers to send and receive money globally.M-PESA registered customers will receive the funds from abroad on their M-PESA account.
What are the benefit of M-PESA Global?
Sending money to Kenya via M-PESA is a low-cost, fast and safe way to pay, transfer, receive and store money.
M-PESA works digitally and in real time, which means your friends or family members living, working or travelling in Kenya will receive the money much more quickly than a traditional bank transfer.
Every transaction is also protected and signed with a PIN, which helps to keep the whole process secure.
There are also no service charges on an M-PESA account. Instead, the user pays on a pay-as-you-go basis every time they perform a transaction.
There’s also no minimum amount that can be held in an M-PESA account, so it remains open even when it’s empty.
M-PESA customers can be able to send funds;
1. To East Africa: Rwanda, Tanzania & Uganda
2. Globally: To millions of Bank accounts and over 500,000 Western Union locations globally.
M-PESA Global East Africa
East Africa just got closer than you ever imagined. You can now send and receive cash fast and conveniently across the region (Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda) through M-PESA.
How to send money to an MTN Uganda Subscriber
1. Dial *840#
2. Enter your preferred PIN
3. Select Send Money
4. Enter destination phone number in the international format e.g. 256xxxxxxxxxx
5. Enter amount and confirm
How to send money to an MTN Rwanda Subscriber
1. Dial *840#
2. Enter your preferred PIN
3. Select Send Money
4. Enter destination phone number in the international format e.g. 250xxxxxxxxxx
5. Enter amount and confirm
How to send money to a Vodacom Tanzania subscriber
1. Go to M-PESA menu and select Lipa na M-PESA.
2. Select paybill and enter business number 255255.
3. Enter recipients mobile number as account number in the format 2557XXXXXXXX.
4. Enter amount, M-PESA PIN and confirm the transaction.
NB: If you do not have Lipa Na M-PESA on your menu, go to M-PESA, select my account and update menu. A new menu will be sent to you at no cost.
Cost of sending money to Tanzania
The charges range from Ksh3 to Ksh220 depending on amount to be sent.
Cost of sending money to Uganda
MIN(Ksh) MAX (Ksh) SENDER CHARGES (Ksh)
100 999 22
1,000 2,499 33
2,500 4,999 55
5,000 9,999 83
10,000 34,999 110
35,000 49,999 198
50,000 70,000 220
Cost of sending money to Rwanda
MIN(Ksh) MAX (Ksh) SENDER CHARGES (Ksh)
100 999 22
1,000 2,499 33
2,500 4,999 55
5,000 9,999 83
10,000 34,999 110
35,000 49,999 198
50,000 70,000 220
How can one access M-PESA Global service?
1. By dialling *840#
Dial *840#
Select Opt in
Read Terms and conditions
Accept / Decline
Enter M-PESA PIN
Then Wait for confirmation SMS
2. MySafaricom App
Launch the App, internet connection is required
Navigate to M-PESA> M-PESA Global > Opt in
Read and accept Terms and Conditions
Enter M-PESA PIN and wait for confirmation SMS
Note:
The minimum amount to send is Ksh101 and maximum of Ksh70,000
The recipient will receive funds in their country’s currency.
The recipient will be required to have the secret word details (the sender is required to put in a secret word) at the collection point to receive the funds.
A country's ISO is a 2 LETTER abbreviation for country names e.g. ZA for South Africa, TD for Chad, KE for Kenya, UG, TZ, etc.
ISO may not always be the first two letters of the country name.
M-PESA global partners
1. Skrill iT
2. mHits
3. SkyForex
4. Mapex
5. PostFinance
6. Xpress Money
7. Western Union
8. XendPay
9. World Remit
10. MoneyGram
11. Azimo
Safaricom M-PESA charges and withdrawal in Kenya
The transaction rates depend on:
1. The amount of money you’re withdrawing or sending.
2. Whether you’re sending to registered or unregistered MPESA users.
3. Sending M-PESA to other mobile networks.
4. Another factor that affects the rates is the type of transaction (Pay Bill, Buy Goods and Services etc.)
Note: The maximum amount one can send is Ksh70,000 in one transaction.
The maximum you can send in a day is Ksh140,000.
You can only hold up to Ksh100,000 in your M-PESA account.
1. Safaricom Withdrawal charges from an M-PESA Agent
Note that there are not costs levied for transactions below Ksh50.
MIN(Ksh) MAX(Ksh) M-PESA CHARGES (Ksh)
1 49 N/A
50 100 10
101 500 27
501 1000 28
1001 1500 28
1501 2500 28
2501 3500 50
3501 5000 67
5001 7500 84
7501 10000 112
10001 15000 162
15001 20000 180
20001 35000 191
35001 50000 270
50001 70000 300
2. Sending Money from M-PESA to M-PESA charges
Note that you cannot deposit money directly into another person’s account. You must first deposit into your account before sending the money to the recipient.
MIN(Ksh) MAX(Ksh) M-PESA CHARGES (Ksh)
1 49 FREE*
50 100 FREE*
101 500 11
501 1000 15
1001 1500 26
1501 2500 41
2501 3500 56
3501 5000 61
5001 7500 77
7501 10000 87
10001 15000 97
15001 20000 102
20001 35000 105
35001 50000 105
50001 70000 105
3. Sending Money from M-PESA to Unregistered Users
An M-PESA customer's SIM card has M-PESA active menu on it and can access to all M-PESA services.
An unregistered customer is one that can only receive money from an M-PESA customer and it can be Safaricom or any other mobile network.
An unregistered customer can withdraw money sent to them by an M-PESA customer in Kenya from any Agent within 7 days, but cannot carry out other M-PESA transactions.
Registered customers can also withdraw cash from participating ATM networks.
Unregistered customers will have to register within 21 days to receive funds via the IMT service.
The costs for transferring money to unregistered users within the Safaricom network is higher.
The reason for that is that you incur the withdrawal costs as well as the sending costs.
MIN(Ksh) MAX(Ksh) M-PESA CHARGES (Ksh)
1 49 N/A
50 100 N/A
101 500 45
501 1000 49
1001 1500 59
1501 2500 74
2501 3500 112
3501 5000 135
5001 7500 166
7501 10000 205
10001 15000 265
15001 20000 288
20001 35000 309
35001 50000 N/A
50001 70000 N/A
4. Sending Money from M-PESA to Other Mobile Networks
If you’re transferring money from M-Pesa to other mobile networks in Kenya such as Airtel or Telkom, here are the charges you’ll incur.
MIN(Ksh) MAX(Ksh) M-PESA CHARGES (Ksh)
1 49 N/A
50 100 N/A
101 500 11
501 1000 15
1001 1500 26
1501 2500 41
2501 3500 56
3501 5000 61
5001 7500 77
7501 10000 87
10001 15000 97
15001 20000 102
20001 35000 105
35001 50000 105
50001 70000 105
5. M-PESA ATM withdrawal charges
ATM withdrawal of M-PESA money is possible with select banks such as Co-operative Bank of Kenya, KCB, Standard Chartered Bank etc.
Note that the maximum you can withdraw from your M-PESA account from an ATM is Ksh20,000.
Here are the latest ATM withdrawal rates:
MIN(Ksh) MAX(Ksh) M-PESA CHARGES (Ksh)
200 2500 34
2501 5000 67
5001 10000 112
10001 20000 197