Mobile money

M-Pesa: getting paid in Kenyan Shilling after selling crypto

M-Pesa credits a Kenyan mobile wallet from a phone number. The beneficiary gets a confirmation SMS and can withdraw cash at an agent.

KES
1 country
under 5 minutes
0.50%
Open

The rail in numbers

All these values come from the catalogue published on this site, and are republished as soon as our own measurements contradict them.

Technical nature: Mobile moneyThe payout credits a mobile account through the operator, with an SMS notification. Operator caps add to ours.
Settlement currency: KES — Kenyan ShillingIf this is not your account currency, your bank applies its own conversion on arrival. That cost does not go through us and does not appear in our breakdown.
Settlement delay (p50 / p95): 2 min / 45 minThe median describes the common case, the p95 the slow one. We show both: a median alone hides exactly what worries you.
Operating window: Continuous, weekends and holidays includedNo cut-off: orders are processed continuously, nights and holidays included.
Min – max per operation: KES 100.00 – KES 150,000Bounds belonging to the rail. An amount above the cap is split into several payouts, which multiplies any fixed fee accordingly.
Rail fee: 0.50%Its own line in the breakdown, next to the network cost and our spread.
Coverage: 1 countryLocal rail: the country carries its own information (identifier, limits, reporting framework), so each country gets its own corridor page.
Data verified on: 2026-09-02Date of the last manual review of this rail’s delays, limits and fields. Data not reviewed for a long time is suspect data, ours included.

How this rail actually works

The payout is pushed to the mobile account through the operator. The credit is near immediate, but depends on the operator platform being available: that is the only real external dependency of this rail.

The mobile wallet has its own balance and transaction caps, set by the operator and the regulator, independently of ours. A payout that would push you past your balance cap is rejected by the operator, not by us.

What makes the delay

This rail processes orders continuously: there is no business day and no cut-off. The gap between the median and the p95 of 45 min comes from the availability of the receiving institution or operator, not from a clearing window.

Details required from the beneficiary

Every field is validated as you type, with the same rule client-side and server-side. That is what prevents most rejected payouts.

Field	Type	Required	Validation rule	Why
Numero M-Pesa	Phone	Yes	international format number, country code included · normalised to E.164 international format	International format. The account must be in your name.
Account holder name	Text	Yes	2 to 140 characters · edges trimmed	Must match the name verified on your ID exactly. A mismatch gets the transfer rejected.

The rules shown are the ones actually enforced: there is no “marketing” version of this table differing from the code.

Countries where this rail can pay you

Each country page ranks the rails available there by delay and adds the local reporting framework.

KenyaKES

The 18 assets you can sell to M-Pesa

The asset does not change how the rail works: it changes the confirmation time before the payout leaves, and the spread applied.

Keep going

The catalogue’s three entry points lead to the same place by different routes.

All payout methods The sell catalogue All countries All assets

Frequently asked questions about M-Pesa

How fast does M-Pesa credit my account?

under 5 minutes in half the cases, and up to 45 min in the slowest ones. This rail runs continuously, weekends and holidays included. These are market orders of magnitude, not a contractual commitment.

What are the minimum and maximum amounts on M-Pesa?

Between KES 100.00 and KES 150,000 per operation, in Kenyan Shilling. These bounds belong to the rail itself. An amount above the cap is split into several payouts, which multiplies any fixed fee accordingly.

What does a M-Pesa payout cost?

0.50% for the rail itself. That amount appears as its own line in the breakdown, next to the network cost taken from your deposit and our spread. The lines sum to exactly the gap between the mid-market value and what you receive.

What do I need to provide to receive on M-Pesa?

2 fields: Numero M-Pesa, Account holder name. Every format is validated before the order is accepted, not at send time: a typo is flagged immediately, not three days later as a rejection.

Which assets can I sell to M-Pesa?

18 assets are offered on this rail. The asset does not change how the rail works: it changes the confirmation time before the payout leaves, and the spread applied depending on whether the asset is stable or volatile.