Each day, more and more people in Kenya are taking advantage of the convenience of mobile money services, especially Mpesa, the most popular and successful of these platforms, with over 30 million users every month, according to Safaricom, Mpesa’s owner and operator.
The other big Mpesa alternative is Airtel Money. Mpesa and Airtel Money services allow customers to send and receive money from anywhere in the world.
These two mobile payment solutions also have other similar features. You can recharge your SIM card using Mpesa and Airtel Money, and you can deposit or withdraw cash from their agents, who are distributed countrywide.
Further, you can use them for business purposes, such as paying for goods in a shop through Mpesa till numbers or directly sending money to service providers if it is their preferred mode of payment.
But despite these similarities, there are differences too, for the most part in how you operate them to send money correctly and efficiently. Today, we see the ways of moving funds from Mpesa to Airtel Money easily and instantly:
Can you use Mpesa to transfer money to Airtel Money?
Yes, Mpesa allows customers to send money instantly to any registered Airtel Money user in Kenya, thanks to the M-PESA Tuma Popote service to support sending and receiving money across networks.
Currently, there are two ways of sending money from Safaricom to Airtel. These are;
Method I: Sending money from Mpesa to Aitel Money using USSD
To initiate a Mpesa transfer to send funds to an Airtel Money account, use *334# in the following simple steps;
1. From your Safaricom SIM, dial *334# to access the Mpesa USSD menu
2. Go to Option 1 ‘Send Money’
3. Choose ‘Send to other Network’
4. Enter the recipient number and proceed
5. Enter the amount to send
6. Confirm the recipient’s details and confirm the transaction
The Airtel Money user will receive the cash in their mobile wallet instantly.
Method II: Sending money from Mpesa to Airtel Money using app
Did you know you can send money from Mpesa to Airtel Money using the Mpesa app? It is here, and the app is available for download on major application marketplaces like Play Store and Apple Store for iPhone users.
Get started by downloading the app on your phone and signing in using your Safaricom number. Open it using your Mpesa PIN for access, and click the ‘SEND AND REQUEST’ icon in green on the homepage. Navigate to ‘ANOTHER NETWORK’ and enter the Airtel number to receive the funds. Easy!
Is it free?
Yes, but only when sending amounts of Ksh100 and below. Otherwise, Mpesa to Airtel Money transfers are subject to a fee, a transaction charge that depends on the amount you are sending across the mobile networks.
Transferring Ksh1,000 will cost you Ksh23, Ksh53 for Ksh2,501 to Ksh3,500, Ksh100 when you send amounts between Ksh 10,001 and Ksh15,000, and so on.
READ: Mpesa: Withdrawals, Tariff of Charges 2024
