M-Pesa Paybill vs Till vs STK Push for School Fees in Kenya
Written by EduCore Team · Nairobi, Kenya ·
Schools often treat these as three competing options. They are not. Two of them are places where fees land, and the third is a way of starting a payment. Getting that straight makes the choice much easier, and often explains why reconciliation is harder than it needs to be.
Two separate questions
Where does the money land? That is a Paybill or a Till. It decides what a parent has to type, who pays the transaction fee, and how easily you can tell whose money it is.
How does the payment start? Either the parent starts it by opening M-Pesa and typing your number, or your school's system starts it with an STK push, the PIN prompt that appears on the parent's phone. STK push works with either a Paybill or a Till.
Paybill vs Till, for a school
Paybill
- Parent enters
- The Paybill number, an account number (the student's reference), and the amount.
- Who pays the fee
- Set by the tariff the business chose: the parent, the school, or shared. Check yours.
- Identifying the student
- The account number field arrives with the payment, so each one already says who it is for.
- Watch out for
- Typos in the account number, and parents who pay without it.
Till (Buy Goods)
- Parent enters
- The Till number and the amount. There is no account-number field.
- Who pays the fee
- The parent pays nothing. The school pays a small percentage on each collection.
- Identifying the student
- Nothing on the payment says which student it is for, only the payer's phone and name.
- Watch out for
- Matching becomes detective work when several parents pay the same amount.
On the numbers. As reported by The Standard, from 7 August 2026 a Till collection of up to KES 500 is free for the business, and above that the fee is 0.55%, capped at KES 200. On a KES 30,000 term payment that is about KES 165. From about KES 36,400 upward, it is the KES 200 cap. Paybill charges depend on the tariff you selected and are not quoted here because they change. Tariffs are updated, so confirm the current figures with Safaricom before you decide.
What STK push adds, and what it does not
With an STK push, your system sends the request through Safaricom's Daraja API, a prompt appears on the parent's phone with the amount already filled in, and the parent enters their PIN. Because the request came from your system, it already knows which student it was for, so there is no account number to mistype, and confirmation arrives automatically.
What it needs: an existing Paybill or Till, a Daraja developer account, and Safaricom's go-live approval, which returns your production credentials. Guides put approval at roughly two to ten business days, and incomplete business paperwork or invalid callback addresses are common reasons for rejection.
What it does not do: make the fee on your Paybill or Till go away, or reach a parent whose phone is off, locked or offline. It also does not catch payments a parent makes on their own straight to your Paybill or Till. Those still need reconciling from the statement.
Five decisions, in order
- 01
Decide which account receives the money
Paybill if matching payments to students is your main pain, which it usually is for a school. Till if you mostly want zero cost to parents and can start payments from your own system.
- 02
Choose who bears the fee, on purpose
Parents notice a fee added to a school payment. Whichever tariff you pick, decide it deliberately and tell parents, instead of discovering it at the first complaint.
- 03
Give every student a short, permanent reference
Something a parent can type from memory, with no slashes or dates. If it changes every term, parents will type the old one.
- 04
Apply for Daraja access if you want STK push
You need an active Paybill or Till first. The go-live application asks for your business details and live HTTPS callback URLs, and incomplete paperwork is a common reason for rejection.
- 05
Agree a reconciliation routine
Compare Safaricom's statement with your records on a set day each week, and every day near the start of term. Payments made directly to the Paybill or Till will only show up this way.
If you contact parents about arrears, message the parent or guardian of that child only. Our Data Protection Act guide for schools covers why fee balances should never go to a group chat.
What we support, and where the manual step is
Each school connects its own Paybill or Till and its own Daraja credentials, so the money goes straight to your account and never through ours. EduCore supports STK push for both a Paybill and a Till, and the credentials are stored encrypted.
A bursar starts an STK push from the student's account, an invoice, or the admissions finance step, where the amount and the parent's phone number are already on screen. The payment is confirmed automatically when Safaricom's callback arrives. For payments that parents make directly to your Paybill or Till, you upload Safaricom's statement in Finance and every line is matched by M-Pesa receipt number. Anything on the statement that isn't in the system is flagged for the bursar to record, and nothing is added to a student's account without a person confirming it.
The honest limit: EduCore does not record a payment a parent makes directly to your Paybill or Till instantly. It is picked up when you upload the statement, so a daily or weekly upload routine matters. For the fuller picture, read how M-Pesa fee collection works in EduCore.
Frequently asked questions
Is STK push different from Paybill?
Yes. Paybill is an account number where the school receives money. STK push is a way of starting a payment: the school's system sends a prompt to the parent's phone, and the parent enters their PIN. STK push works with either a Paybill or a Till.
Do parents pay a fee when they pay by STK push?
A payment made through STK push lands on your Paybill or Till like any other, so the tariff attached to that Paybill or Till generally applies. On a Till the parent pays nothing. On a Paybill it depends on the tariff the school chose. Confirm your own tariff with Safaricom.
Which should a school choose, a Paybill or a Till?
If matching payments to students matters most, and it usually does, a Paybill with a short student reference as the account number is easier to work with. A Till costs the parent nothing but costs the school a small percentage, and it gives you no account-number field, so identification is harder unless payments start from the school's own system.
Do we need a developer to use STK push?
Someone has to complete Safaricom's Daraja go-live process for your Paybill or Till and obtain the production credentials. After that, a school system that supports STK push does the technical part. The go-live application needs your registered business details, and Safaricom's review time varies.
What about collecting through a bank's paybill instead?
Some schools collect through a bank's own paybill, with the money landing in the school's bank account. That is a different arrangement: charges, account formats and statements come from the bank, and whether STK push is available depends on the bank. It is outside what this guide compares.
Safaricom tariffs and Daraja procedures change. This guide reflects publicly reported information as of September 2026 and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Safaricom. Confirm current charges and requirements with Safaricom before deciding.
Try it with your own Paybill or Till.
Thirty days, no card. Run a real statement through reconciliation before you decide.