Lipa Mdogo Mdogo Phones in Kenya: Installments on M-Pesa

Kenyan customers already understand phones on credit. Pay-as-you-go phone brands have made daily payment plans familiar, so a customer walking into a shop on Moi Avenue or in Eldoret often expects the same option. Independent retailers can compete, but daily payments of KES 50 to KES 200 only work if the shop tracks them properly.

Set up your M-Pesa channel for matching

Payments to a Paybill with an account number are the easiest to match, because each payment names the customer. Till numbers and staff personal lines need manual checks. Decide which channels you accept and write them into the customer agreement.

• check_circleUse the customer’s account number as the Paybill account reference.
• check_circleAvoid collecting installments on personal phone numbers.
• check_circleKeep the M-Pesa confirmation code for every payment recorded in RecTym.

Daily plans need daily reconciliation

With a daily plan, one missed day is normal; a week of missed days is a conversation. Reconcile the M-Pesa statement every evening, then look at overdue accounts. Agree a grace period in the customer agreement so staff do not act on a single late payment.

Using the EMI lock responsibly

• check_circleRemind the customer before the due date, in Kiswahili or English.
• check_circleCheck the statement for unmatched payments before any restriction.
• check_circleUse only the authorized process the customer agreed to.
• check_circleRelease the phone the same day the final payment is confirmed.

Licensing and data protection

If your business offers credit to the public, check whether you need a licence from the Central Bank of Kenya, which regulates digital credit providers. The Data Protection Act, 2019 applies to customer data, overseen by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. RecTym is software; your business owns the credit decision.