Paystack is one of the main ways a Kenyan online shop takes M-Pesa and card payments at checkout. It charges a percentage of each payment, then pays the rest into your bank account or M-Pesa automatically.
Here is what it costs in 2026, when the money arrives, and how it compares with simply sharing your till number.
Paystack's Kenya fees
| Payment type | Fee per transaction |
|---|---|
| M-Pesa | 1.5% |
| Local cards (Kenyan-issued Visa, Mastercard) | 2.9% |
| International cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay) | 3.8% |
| USD transactions | 3.8% |
There is no set-up fee, no monthly fee and no integration fee. Paystack says businesses with large volumes can get a discount on the transaction fee — you negotiate that with them, it is not automatic.
The fee comes off each payment before it is paid out to you. Paystack's help centre puts it this way: charges are "deducted per transaction, and we settle the difference via your payouts".
What you actually receive
| Sale | Paid by | Paystack fee | You receive |
|---|---|---|---|
| KSh 1,000 | M-Pesa | KSh 15 | KSh 985 |
| KSh 2,000 | M-Pesa | KSh 30 | KSh 1,970 |
| KSh 2,000 | Kenyan card | KSh 58 | KSh 1,942 |
| KSh 2,000 | Foreign card | KSh 76 | KSh 1,924 |
| KSh 10,000 | M-Pesa | KSh 150 | KSh 9,850 |
We checked the M-Pesa rate with real payments in September 2026. A KSh 100 M-Pesa payment carried a KSh 1.50 fee and KSh 98.50 was paid out. A KSh 10 payment left KSh 9.85. There was no minimum fee on those small amounts.
Paystack's published table does not mention a cap on the 1.5%, and we have not tested a large enough payment to see one. Assume the full percentage applies unless Paystack tells you otherwise.
Can the customer pay the fee?
Paystack's automatic "pass the fee to the customer" setting is listed for Nigerian businesses only. In Kenya, if you want the buyer to carry the cost, you build it into your price. On a KSh 2,000 item paid by M-Pesa, pricing it at KSh 2,031 covers the 1.5%.
When the money reaches you
Paystack pays Kenyan merchants automatically after two working days (T+2), for both KSh and USD. A payment on Monday is paid out on Wednesday. Payouts only run on working days, so a payment on Thursday or Friday lands after the weekend, and public holidays push it back another day.
You can be paid to a bank account or an M-Pesa wallet.
Automatic payouts are free. Paystack's help centre says no fee is charged for automated payouts, and our own settlement statements in September 2026 showed a payout fee of zero.
Minimum payout. Paystack's help centre lists a KSh 100 minimum for automatic payouts in Kenya. In our own payments, a KSh 98.50 balance still went out on the normal two-day schedule, so do not assume small balances will always be held — but do not rely on very small amounts arriving quickly either.
Manual payouts. Registered businesses in Kenya can switch to manual payouts, where you trigger withdrawals yourself. Most small sellers are better off leaving automatic payouts on.
One more note: Paystack's older website version shows next-day settlement (T+1) for Kenya, while its current help centre says two working days. We have used the help centre figure, which matches what we see on live settlements.
Transfers: when you send money out
Paystack also lets a business send money from its Paystack balance to other people — paying a supplier or a rider, for example. That is a Transfer, and it is charged separately from your free payout:
| Transfer to | Amount | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| M-Pesa wallet | KSh 10–1,500 | KSh 20 |
| M-Pesa wallet | KSh 1,501–20,000 | KSh 40 |
| M-Pesa wallet | KSh 20,001–250,000 | KSh 60 |
| M-Pesa PayBill or till | KSh 1–1,500 | KSh 40 |
| M-Pesa PayBill or till | KSh 1,501–10,000 | KSh 80 |
| M-Pesa PayBill or till | KSh 10,001–40,000 | KSh 140 |
| M-Pesa PayBill or till | KSh 40,001–999,999 | KSh 180 |
| Bank account | KSh 1–10,000 | KSh 80 |
| Bank account | KSh 10,001–50,000 | KSh 120 |
| Bank account | KSh 50,001–999,999 | KSh 140 |
Transfers of KSh 1 million and above cost KSh 350 to a PayBill, till or bank account. The minimum transfer is KSh 10. Most small shops never use Transfers — their sales just arrive through the free automatic payout.
Paystack vs your own till
If a customer pays your M-Pesa Buy Goods till directly, Safaricom charges you nothing on payments up to KSh 500 and 0.55% above that, capped at KSh 200, since 7 August 2026. That is cheaper than Paystack's 1.5% on M-Pesa.
What the extra percentage buys you:
- Card payments, including foreign cards, which a till cannot take.
- Checkout on your website: the customer enters their number, approves the M-Pesa prompt, and the order is marked paid automatically. No matching M-Pesa messages to orders by hand.
- One place for records of every payment.
Many sellers use both: their till for walk-in and WhatsApp customers, and a gateway for online orders. Compare the till options in till vs Pochi vs PayBill, and work out your real cost with the M-Pesa charges calculator.
Getting a Paystack account
Paystack asks for business documents before it lets you go live in Kenya, and your account can sit under review while it checks them. Have your business registration documents ready before you apply — see business name registration in Kenya if you have not registered yet.
How duka.bio uses Paystack
duka.bio shops take M-Pesa and card payments through Paystack. The money goes from Paystack to your own account — on a KSh 2,000 M-Pesa sale you receive KSh 1,970, and duka.bio adds no fee of its own. Check your margins with the profit margin calculator before you set prices.