M-Pesa Paybill vs Till Number for a Car Wash: Which Should You Use?
- 5 min read
Almost every customer who drives into a Kenyan car wash expects to pay with M-Pesa. The question for the owner isn't whether to accept M-Pesa, but how: with a Buy Goods Till number or a Paybill number. Both work, both are widely used by car washes, and the right choice depends on how your business is set up and how you want to track payments.
This guide explains the practical differences for a car wash. Safaricom's requirements and charges change from time to time, so always confirm the current details with Safaricom or your bank before you apply.
The short answer
- Till number (Lipa na M-Pesa Buy Goods) is the simplest for customers: they enter the till number and the amount, and that's it. It's a good fit for most single-location car washes.
- Paybill asks the customer for an account number as well. That extra field is a nuisance for some customers, but it lets you match each payment to something specific, such as the car's plate number, a branch or a fleet account. It suits businesses that need tighter tracking, multiple branches or corporate clients.
If you plan to send payment requests to customers' phones with STK Push from a system, either can work. In that case the customer never types the number at all, and the difference matters much less.
How each works for the customer
Till (Buy Goods): M-Pesa > Lipa na M-Pesa > Buy Goods and Services > enter till number > amount > PIN. The customer sees your registered business name before confirming, which reassures them they are paying the right place.
Paybill: M-Pesa > Lipa na M-Pesa > Pay Bill > business number > account number > amount > PIN. The extra account number step is familiar to most Kenyans from paying electricity or school fees, but at a busy car wash, customers do sometimes type the wrong account number or ask what to put.
Requirements to apply
Requirements change, so treat this as a general guide:
- Till numbers have been available to registered businesses for a long time, and Safaricom has also offered tills to sole proprietors, typically with an ID and a business permit. Settlement can go to a bank account or be withdrawn.
- Paybill numbers have generally been aimed at registered businesses and usually require company or business-name registration documents, a KRA PIN and a bank account for settlement.
There is also Pochi la Biashara, which lets a person receive business payments on their own line. It's convenient for a one-person side business, but for a car wash with staff it mixes business money with a personal phone, which makes the cash-control problems described below much harder to solve.
Charges
Both tills and paybills have transaction charges, and Safaricom has revised these tariffs several times over the years, including who pays (customer or business) and at what bands. Rather than rely on any figure you read online, check Safaricom's current Lipa na M-Pesa tariff for the exact option you're applying for, and factor it into your prices. For most car wash ticket sizes the charge is a small percentage of the wash, but it is a real cost and worth knowing.
Which is better for tracking payments?
This is where the choice really matters for a car wash.
With a till, each payment shows the amount, time and customer's name and phone number. To work out which car it was for, you have to match it to your wash records by amount and time. That's manageable on a quiet day, but on a busy Saturday with ten KES 300 washes in an hour, it gets hard.
With a Paybill, you can ask customers to enter the car's plate number as the account number. Every payment then carries the plate, and matching payments to washes becomes much easier. You can also use account numbers for branches (for example, "UTAWALA" or "KAYOLE") or for fleet clients who pay monthly.
With STK Push, the payment request is created from the car's record, so the payment is linked to the right wash automatically, whether you use a till or a paybill behind it. This is the most reliable option, because the customer can't enter the wrong amount or the wrong account. You can read more about STK Push for car washes.
Multiple branches
If you run more than one car wash, think about this early:
- Separate tills per branch keep each branch's money visible separately, which helps you see which branch is performing. Safaricom has offered head-office and store structures for Buy Goods, where several store tills sit under one business. Ask Safaricom about the current options.
- One Paybill with branch account numbers keeps everything in one statement, with the account number telling you which branch.
Either way, you want each branch's takings to be visible on its own every day. Multi-branch management in a car wash system does this without spreadsheet work.
The rule that matters more than Till vs Paybill
Whichever you choose, the most important rule is this: every payment goes into the business number, never to a staff member's phone. Many owners lose a meaningful share of their takings this way without realising it. Put the number on large, clear signs at every bay and at the counter, and make it known that payments to other numbers aren't accepted. Our guide on how to stop cash leakage at your car wash covers this and other controls in detail.
Quick comparison
Till (Buy Goods) - Paybill
Steps for customer - Fewer - One extra (account number)
Matching payment to a car - By amount and time - By account number (e.g. plate)
Good for - Single site, walk-in customers - Branches, fleets, corporate clients
Typical applicant - Businesses and sole proprietors - Registered businesses
Works with STK Push - Yes - Yes
Our recommendation
For a single car wash with mostly walk-in customers, a Till is usually the simplest place to start. If you serve fleets or corporate clients, run several branches, or want each payment tagged to a plate number, a Paybill is worth the extra step. And if you can, use STK Push from your check-in system so the payment is linked to the car automatically, whichever number sits behind it.
CarwashManage sends M-Pesa STK Push requests straight from each car's record, matches payments to washes and shows unpaid cars before they leave. Compare our plans or book a free demo to see it working with your own till or paybill.