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How M-Pesa payments and fees work
What HUGO charges, what it does with the money while it holds it, and how to check every figure yourself.
Two ways M-Pesa can reach you
Your M-Pesa setup decides which one applies. The fee below applies to only one of them.
Your own M-Pesa keys
Customers pay straight to your paybill or till. The money never passes through HUGO, and HUGO charges nothing on it.
The HUGO paybill
Customers pay the HUGO paybill. HUGO records the payment as yours, pays it on to your paybill, till or bank paybill, and keeps the fee below.
Pricing
One flat fee per payment on the HUGO paybill, set by the amount the customer paid. It depends only on the size of the payment.
- It is a flat amount, not a percentage.
- It is taken out of your payout, so you receive the amount collected less the fee.
- Payments of KES 10 or less carry no fee.
- If part of a sale is refunded, the fee is the one for the amount that stayed sold. If all of it is refunded, or M-Pesa reverses the payment, there is no fee.
- Payments customers make straight to your own paybill or till, using your own M-Pesa keys, never pass through HUGO and are never charged.
The fee for every amount
M-Pesa moves whole shillings, so the fee is in whole shillings too.
| Amount collected (KES) | Fee (KES) |
|---|---|
| 1 – 10 | No fee |
| 11 – 49 | 1 |
| 50 – 499 | 6 |
| 500 – 999 | 10 |
| 1,000 – 1,499 | 15 |
| 1,500 – 2,499 | 20 |
| 2,500 – 3,499 | 25 |
| 3,500 – 4,999 | 30 |
| 5,000 – 7,499 | 40 |
| 7,500 – 9,999 | 45 |
| 10,000 – 14,999 | 50 |
| 15,000 – 19,999 | 55 |
| 20,000 – 34,999 | 80 |
| 35,000 – 49,999 | 105 |
| 50,000 – 149,999 | 130 |
| 150,000 – 249,999 | 160 |
| 250,000 – 349,999 | 195 |
| 350,000 – 549,999 | 230 |
| 550,000 – 749,999 | 275 |
| 750,000 – 999,999 | 320 |
Reading your Payments statement
The Payments page lists every collection on the HUGO paybill. Every figure comes from one record of the money, so the lines always add up.
- Collected, less paid out, fees, refunds and reversals, is what HUGO is holding for you.
- Held means collected and not yet sent to you. It is yours, and it is paid out as soon as the payout can be sent.
- A refund booked before the payout comes off what you are paid. A refund after the payout leaves your balance negative: that is the amount paid to you for a sale that was later refunded.
- When money goes back after the fee was taken, the fee is adjusted to the one for what stayed sold, and the adjustment is its own line on the record.
- Nothing on the record is ever edited. A correction is a new line that names what it corrects.
When a payout does not go through
A payout can fail for reasons on either side. This is what you will see, and what HUGO does.
- If a payout cannot be sent, the money stays recorded as yours and shows as Held. HUGO retries automatically.
- If M-Pesa refuses a payout, it shows as Payout refused and is retried. Check that the paybill or till you set for payouts is correct.
- If M-Pesa does not say whether a payout went through, HUGO does not send it again, so you are never paid twice. It shows as Needs checking, and a person confirms it with M-Pesa.
- A payout that M-Pesa later reports as failed is put back on your balance, and its fee with it.
Point of sale for Kenyan retail
Open your shop on HUGO today
Name your business, pick your address and set up your first branch, then invite your team as admins, managers and cashiers.