When it comes to matters pertaining to financial literacy revolving around the aspects of earning, spending, saving, investing and borrowing, the majority of Kenyans tend to focus only on banking and microfinance institutions thus forgetting the existence of credit unions.

Credit unions, otherwise referred to as saccos, are financial institutions that bear the same functionalities as banks in the provision of financial services such as deposits and credit facilities in addition to other benefits.

Likewise, there also exist differences between banks and saccos with the latter bearing its own disadvantages as well thereby requiring careful considerations before deciding to join one.

With the obvious aspect of being able to own sacco equity through buying of shares for dividend purposes to making deposits for accruing interest, the key feature enabling this being the deposits and withdrawal function.

Therefore for efficiency purposes toward the above, the majority of saccos have adopted mobile banking platforms to allow members access sacco services from the comfort of their mobile phone devices via use of ussd codes, apps or paybill options.

By definition from Safaricom, a paybill is a cash collection service that allows an organization to collect money on a regular basis from clients through M-Pesa.

Other benefits of the paybill service include;

• Real time payments
• Low transaction costs
• Secure transactions
• Convenience
• Easy funds transfer
• Single/bulk payment transactions

However, there are certain requirements enforced by Safaricom before saccos can implement the paybill service.

Requirements To Obtain Paybill Number For Deposit-Taking Saccos

• Accurately completed & signed Paybill Application Form and Terms & Conditions
• Copy of sacco registration certificate and trade license.
• Filled, stamped and sealed resolution letter signed by at least two directors.
• Copy of directors’ & authorized signatories ID documents.
• Directors’ & company KRA pin certificates.
• Duly filled & completed Safaricom AML/Kenyan KYC questionnaire.
• Cancelled cheque/letter from bank stating the sacco’s details.

Upon verification of the documents and subsequent approval, a unique 6-digit number commonly referred to as Paybill number is assigned to a specific sacco to be used by its members for all deposits.

Channels For Accessing The Paybill Option

Since the paybill service is a product of Safaricom, it is therefore accessible through their various platforms such as SIM toolkit, M-Pesa and MySafaricom app.

a) How To Use Paybill Option Via SIM toolkit

• Go to SIM toolkit
• Click on ‘M-Pesa’
• Select ‘Lipa na M-Pesa’
• Select ‘Paybill’
• Enter business no/Paybill no
• Select ‘Account no’
• Enter ‘Amount’
• Enter ‘M-Pesa Pin’

b) How To Use Paybill Option Via M-Pesa App

• Download and install the M-Pesa app from Playstore/Appstore
• Complete your phone number registration
• Launch the app and on the dashboard, click on the ‘Pay’ symbol to bring up an additional menu containing the paybill option.

c) How To Use Paybill Option Via MySafaricom App

• Download and install the MySafaricom app from Playstore/Appstore.
• Finalize your mobile number registration process.
• Launch the app and on the homepage, click on the ‘M-Pesa’ symbol located at the bottom menu.
• Proceed to tap on the ‘Lipa na M-Pesa’ symbol and select ‘Paybill’ option

Besides the above options, there are also third party apps such as digital banking apps and loan apps that integrate the paybill option to their services.

For a successful transaction via Paybill, there are two important sections that require accurate details. These include;

• Account number
• Paybill number

Where To Get Sacco Account Number

Saccos usually assign different account numbers depending on their product variety. These account numbers can be membership no, ID no, shortcodes/transaction codes or a combination of either

What Are Sacco Paybill Shortcodes?

These are usually shortcodes assigned to various products offered by different saccos e.g

• For advances, the code is ADV
• For deposits, the code is DEP
• For asset financing, the code is ASF

These shortcodes normally form a section of the account no by referencing the individual product i.e

• Membership no + shortcode
• National ID no + shortcode

Sacco Paybill Numbers 2022

Below are the official paybill numbers for the 300+ licensed saccos in Kenya.

Categories: General