Till vs Paybill: Which Is Better for Your Online Store?
If you're setting up M-Pesa payments for your online store, you'll be asked to choose between a Till Number and a Paybill Number. They both accept M-Pesa payments, but they work differently — and the right choice depends on how your business operates.
The core difference
| Till Number | Paybill Number | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Simple, single-item payments (shop, kiosk-style checkout) | Structured payments needing an account number (orders, invoices, subscriptions) |
| Customer enters | Amount only | Business number + account number + amount |
| Funds settle to | M-Pesa (can withdraw or move to bank) | Usually a linked bank account |
| Good fit for e-commerce with order tracking? | Limited | Yes — the account number field can carry an order ID |
When a Till Number makes sense
Till numbers are simple and familiar — most Kenyan shoppers already use them at physical shops. For a small store with straightforward, one-off purchases, a Till can be perfectly sufficient and is usually quicker to set up.
When a Paybill Number makes sense
Paybill's account number field is genuinely useful for e-commerce: it lets you automatically match a payment to a specific order, which is far harder to do reliably with a Till. If your store needs to track multiple simultaneous orders, a Paybill setup (especially combined with the Daraja API, covered in our M-Pesa payments guide) makes reconciliation much easier.
Can you use both?
Yes — some businesses keep a Till for in-person sales and a Paybill for the website, especially once order volume grows. This isn't necessary from day one, but it's worth knowing it's an option as your business scales.
What about payment gateways?
If you're not ready to apply for a business Paybill directly with Safaricom, third-party gateways like Pesapal, Flutterwave, or IntaSend can generate a payment flow (often via their own Paybill) that still lets your customers pay with M-Pesa, without you needing your own Paybill number immediately. This is usually the faster route to launch.
Which should you start with?
For most small stores just getting started, a Till number or a payment gateway integration is the simplest path. As order volume grows and tracking payments manually becomes harder, upgrading to a dedicated Paybill with automated order matching is the natural next step.
Setting up payments for your store?
We'll help you choose and integrate the right option for how your business actually sells.
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