Get Lipa na M-PESA till number for your business – an interview with Kopo Kopo Inc. director Ben Lyon

Want to get your own Lipa na M-PESA number and SIM card to accept and receive payments online and offline without using Pesapal M-PESA payment service feature in their business merchant account? Want a Lipa na MPESA number for your small business in Kenya, school, company, institution, startup, app, API integration needs, garage, cafe, church contributions, chama business, online shop, website, WordPress blog, WooCommerce store, institution, restaurant, hotel or shop? Read on.

Normally, when we want to take money out of our M-PESA account, to transfer it to another account, the Send Money option gets used a lot.

But it costs more to the person sending the money and the person receiving it.

And sometimes customers don’t want to use the option to make payments because of the extra charges, however small, and business owners who don’t have a better alternative are left with the option of taking cash, which you know is good, but also have its own disadvantages.

But this service you are going to learn more about can encourage your customers to use M-PESA more often when they buy from you.

The service offered by Kopo Kopo in partnership with Safaricom, to businesses in Kenya, is simply called Lipa na MPESA.

You may have heard or read a lot about it on TV and newspapers but there are details you never see on those ads.

Ben Lyon, the director of Kopo Kopo was kind enough to shade light on some of these things.

If you are interested in digital payments and want this for your business read on to learn more – and yes, you can sign up for this service for free – details below.

1. Tell me a little bit about this M-PESA service Kopo Kopo offers business owners?

Lipa na M-PESA is a service that allows businesses to accept M-PESA payments from their customers to a dedicated M-PESA Till Number.

Lipa na M-PESA is free for the customer (e.g. no transaction fee) and costs 1% per transaction to the business.

For example, if I buy a cup of coffee for Ksh 100 and pay via M-PESA, I only pay Ksh 100 and the business receives Ksh 99 when they settle their funds.

2. I guess signing up for the service doesn’t cost ten thousand Kenyan shillings?

Signing up for Lipa na M-PESA is free! Businesses only pay the 1% transaction fee plus the cost of settlement. The business owner can settle funds at their discretion.

Lipa na M-PESA till number transaction charges for businesses (Note that these changes were made after the interview – and published on this site on 3rd May 2022)

Transactions between KSh 1 and 200 – no charges
Transactions between KSh 201 and 40000 – 0.5% charged
Transactions above KSh 40001 – KSh 200 charge for a transaction

3. Which kind of business do you recommend this service to?

Anyone can use Lipa na M-PESA.

Usually, businesses that have loyal customers do very well with Lipa na M-PESA.

For example, restaurants and beauty salons tend to do very well.

4. What are the requirements one has to meet before they sign up with you and what do they get after signing up?

To sign up, a business needs to provide copies of their business license, the national ID of the owner(s) and their KRA PIN.

Once signed up, a business receives a dedicated SIM card, which receives all SMS notifications from M-PESA.

5. Say I have a business and also want to sell online via my blog or website, would you recommend this service to me? Why?

Yes! You can sell both online and offline with Lipa na M-PESA.

If you’re selling online, just display your Till Number and you’ll receive an SMS notification every time someone pays you.

M-PESA is the best payment channel when accepting online payments because it is the most secure.

It’s also the most cost-effective!

6. What mistakes do people who, don’t or, sign up with you make that they can easily avoid?

The most common mistake businesses make is leaving their phone off when a customer is trying to pay.

To receive payments via Lipa na M-PESA, the phone with the dedicated SIM card must be on, otherwise the transaction is cancelled.

7. What tips can you give users who want to get more out of this service –  the ones already using it and those thinking of signing up?

If you want to sign up for the service, you can apply for FREE at www.kopokopo.com.

We also have a frequently asked questions section where you can learn about the product and value-added services.

To get the most from Lipa na M-PESA, encourage your customers to pay with M-PESA.

You’ll see more and more of your payments become digital, which will lower your costs associated with handling cash. And your customers will thank you for the increased convenience.

8. Any other details you’d like to share about the Lipa na M-PESA service or just a tip to those coming to this site?

Applying is easy – just go to www.kopokopo.com and enter your details.

We’ll call you right away to answer any questions and help you through the application.

Download PDF >> 10 Things to Look At if You Are Thinking of Starting a Business in Kenya. Click here.

NOTE: The MPESA charges you incur as a business owner using this payment service by Safaricom are minimal – and using this method to accept payments or receive money from customers is still a good way to sell more of your inventory – and replenish your stock with new products and services your existing customers and prospective buyers are happy to pay for.