Safaricom has made it possible to send money via M-Pesa to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. The transfers are done through MTN Uganda, Vodacom Tanzania and MTN Rwanda.
The way it works is that M-Pesa users send money in Kenya Shillings and the recipients get in the local currency subject to a conversion rate that Safaricom published daily.
Here is the process of sending money to the three East African countries.
1. Sending money to MTN Uganda
To send money to an MTN Uganda subscriber, please follow the following procedure.
- Dial *840#
- Enter your Bonga PIN (or set up if you don’t have one).
- Select Send Money
- Enter the phone number of the recipient in the format 256XXXXXXXXX
- Enter amount, M-PESA PIN and confirm the transaction.
The following are the costs of sending M-Pesa to Uganda
Transaction Bands | Total (Ksh) | |
Min (Ksh) | Max (Ksh) | Sender charges |
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 |
2. Sending money to Vodacom Tanzania
To send money from Kenya to a Vodacom Tanzania customer, simply do the following:
- Go to the M-PESA menu.
- Select Lipa Na M-PESA and then go to the Pay Bill option
- Enter 255255 as the business number .
- Enter the recipient’s mobile number as account number in the format 2557XXXXXXXX
- Enter amount, M-PESA PIN and confirm the transaction.
The charges for sending money to Tanzania range from Kshs. 3 to Kshs. 220 depending on amount you are sending.
3. Sending money to MTN Rwanda
- Dial *840#
- Enter your Bonga PIN (or set up if you don’t have one).
- Select Send Money
- Enter the phone number of the recipient in the format 250XXXXXXXXX
- Enter amount, M-PESA PIN and confirm the transaction.
The following are the costs of sending M-Pesa to Rwanda.
Transaction Bands | Total (Ksh) | |
Min (Ksh) | Max (Ksh) | Sender charges |
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 |