Pochi La Biashara

This is a product that allows M-PESA to register customers who own informal businesses such as: food vendors, kiosk owners, boda-boda operators, secondhand clothes dealers among others, to receive and separate business funds from personal funds on their M-PESA number.

Which channels are used by customers to pay to Pochi la Biashara?

Customers can pay to Pochi merchant using.

  • M-PESA App
  • USSD *334#
  • Safaricom Toolkit Menu (STK)

No new mobile number or till will be issued. Pochi la Biashara will be activated on the existing SIM card that is registered n M-PESA. It will therefore use the same mobile number as M-PESA.

How much money can the Pochi la Biashara account hold?

Since the M-PESA and Pochi accounts are on the same SIM card, the two accounts will share the allowed maximum balance limit of KSh 300,000. Therefore, in total, the balance in the M-PESA and Pochi accounts cannot exceed KSh. 300,000.

Normal M-PESA limits of KSh 150,000 per transaction and KSh 300,000 per day apply.

The customers can use the following procedures to make payments to Pochi la Biashara merchant.

On M-PESA App

  • Log into the M-PESA App
  • Select Pochi la Biashara.
  • Enter the Pochi Mobile Number
  • Enter Amount to pay.
  • Enter M-PESA PIN

 On *334# menu

  • Dial *334#
  • Select Send Money
  • Select Pochi la Biashara.
  • Enter the Pochi Phone Number
  • Enter Amount
  • Enter M-PESA PIN

 SIM Toolkit (Safaricom) Menu

  • Open the Safaricom Menu
  • Select M-PESA
  • Select Lipa na M-PESA
  • Enter the Pochi Phone Number
  • Enter Amount
  • Enter M-PESA PIN

Important to note:  Customers who do not have the refreshed menu on M-PESA can refresh the M-PESA menu by:

  • Selecting M-PESA on the SIM Toolkit Menu
  • Select My Account
  • Select Update Customer Menu and enter their M-PESA PIN to complete the menu update.

OR

Replace SIM cards at the nearest Safaricom Retail Shop or Care Desks– if they have the old SIM cards

The service is accessed through:

  • M-PESA App.
  • USSD, *334#

Currently on the M-PESA App the merchants can access a few services which includes.

  • Move money from Pochi to their M-PESA account.
  • Pay to Buy Goods, PayBill or mobile number.
  • Opt out

Merchants can use M-PESA App or USSD to move money from Pochi to M-PESA account.

Move money via the M-PESA App

  • Launch M-PESA App
  • Click on the icon at the top left conner of the App screen.
  • Select Pochi la Biashara.
  • Select Move Money
  • Select account.
  • Pochi to M-PESA or
  • M-PESA to Pochi
  • Enter Amount and click on continue.
  • Confirm the transfer.
  • Enter M-PESA PIN

Move money via USSD.

To move money using the USSD merchant will

Dial *334#

  • Select Pochi La Biashara
  • Select Move Money
  • Select respective accounts either Pochi to M-PESA or M-PESA to Pochi
  • Enter Amount
  • Confirm and accept.
  • Enter M-PESA PIN

Currently this can only be done via USSD. Merchants will be required to:

  • Dial *334#
  • Select Pochi La Biashara
  • Select Send Money
  • Select Pochi la Biashara.
  • Enter Phone Number
  • Enter Amount
  • Enter M-PESA PIN.

The merchant can use either the M-PESA App or USSD to send money to a mobile number.

Send money via the M-PESA App

On the App merchant will

  • Launch M-PESA App
  • Click on the icon at the top left conner of the screen.
  • Select Pochi la Biashara.
  • Select Pay
  • Select Mobile Number
  • Enter Mobile Number
  • Enter Amount
  • Enter M-PESA PIN

Send money via USSD.

To move money using the USSD merchant will

  • Dial *334#
  • Select Pochi La Biashara
  • Select Send Money
  • Select Send Money
  • Enter Mobile Number
  • Enter Amount
  • Enter M-PESA PIN

The Pochi merchant can withdraw funds at an M-PESA agent by:

  • Dialing *334#
  • Select Pochi la Biashara.
  • Select Withdraw Cash
  • Enter Agent Number
  • Enter Store Number
  • Enter Amount
  • Enter M-PESA PIN

To sell airtime the customer will use USSD.

  • Dial *334#
  • Select Pochi La Biashara
  • Select Sell Airtime
  • Select Sell Airtime
  • Enter the buyer Phone Number
  • Enter Amount
  • Enter M-PESA PIN.

Selling airtime will earn the merchant a commission of 5% of the value of airtime sold.

  • Dial *334#
  • Select Pochi La Biashara
  • Select Sell Airtime
  • Select Buy for My Number
  • Enter Amount
  • Confirm and accept.
  • Enter M-PESA PIN.

No commission is paid where one buys airtime for themselves

Lipa na Pochi is a service found on USSD that enables merchants to pay to PayBill or Buy Goods Till with money from their Pochi account.

Lipa na Pochi on M-PESA App

On the App merchant will

  • Launch M-PESA App
  • Click on the icon at the top left conner of the screen.
  • Select Pay
  • To pay to a Buy Goods till, select Buy Goods and Services >>Enter till number.
  • To pay to a Paybill, select PayBill >> Enter Business Number>> Enter Account Number
  • Enter Amount
  • Enter M-PESA PIN

Lipa na Pochi on USSD

  • Dial *334#
  • Select Pochi La Biashara
  • Select Lipa na Pochi.
  • To pay to a Buy Goods till, select Buy Goods and Services >>Enter till number.
  • To pay to a Paybill, select PayBill >> Enter Business Number>> Enter Account Number
  • Enter Amount
  • Enter M-PESA PIN

The ‘Know more about Pochi’ feature allows business owners to access frequently asked questions (FAQs) and learn more about this innovative product. To access this feature, the business owner will:

  • Dial*334#
  • Selects Pochi La Biashara
  • Select Know more about Pochi and the FAQs will be displayed.

To help boost Pochi la Biashara merchant business, Safaricom has offered subsidized bundles that are affordable to the merchants. To access your offer: To access this feature, the business owner will:

  • Dial*334#
  • Selects Pochi La Biashara
  • Select Biashara Smart
  • Select Daily or Monthly bundles and proceed to purchase using funds in the Pochi la Biashara account

On the M-PESA App, 

  • Launch the app,
  • Click on the Pochi la Biashara icon at the top right of the screen.
  • Select Pochi la Biashara.
  • Click on the three dots at the top right of the screen.
  • Select Opt out.

To opt out of Pochi using USSD merchant will:

  • Customer will dial *334#
  • Select Pochi la Biashara.
  • Select My Account
  • Select Leave this Service.
  • Confirm by selecting option 1 (Yes) and they will receive an SMS confirmation that they have been opted out of the service.

Note: Upon opting out, any funds on the Pochi account will instantly be moved to the personal M-PESA account.

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