Absa *224#: the full Hello Money menu
By Arnold Ochieng · Absa Bank Kenya hub · paybillke is an independent guide and is not affiliated with Absa Bank Kenya.
The Absa USSD code is *224#, and Absa calls the service Hello Money. We dialled it on 13 September 2026 and it answers as Absa. It works on any handset on any network with no internet, and it does considerably more than most write-ups suggest: deposits from M-PESA, transfers out to M-PESA and Airtel Money, PesaLink to any Kenyan bank, airtime, balances, and cash your family can collect at an ATM without a card.
What Hello Money can actually do
This is Absa's own list, not a guess:
- Deposit from M-PESA into your Absa account.
- Transfer out from the account to your M-PESA wallet.
- PesaLink to any other Kenyan bank.
- Send to an Airtel Money number.
- Buy airtime.
- Check your balance and pull a mini-statement.
- CashSend, which lets somebody with no account at all collect cash from an ATM.
Absa also says Hello Money carries waived transaction fees on some activity. It does not say which, so check your own statement rather than assuming a given transfer is free.
Registering yourself, no branch needed
- Dial *224#.
- Choose your language, English or Swahili.
- Choose the self registration option.
- Enter your account number.
- Press 1 to accept the terms.
- Enter your date of birth as prompted.
- Enter the card number digits requested, then your debit card expiry date. This is the step that catches people out: you need your debit card in your hand to register.
- A temporary PIN arrives by SMS. Dial *224# again, enter it, then set and confirm your own PIN.
Forgot your PIN
- Dial *224# and select 1 for Forgot PIN.
- Input 1 to continue.
- Give your account number, your date of birth and your debit card details.
- Set the new PIN and confirm it.
Sending money to M-PESA or Airtel Money
- Dial *224#, enter your PIN.
- Select option 2, Mpesa/Airtel Money.
- Choose the operator, M-PESA or Airtel Money.
- Choose own number or other number.
- Say whether it is one-off or to a saved beneficiary, then enter the number.
- Enter the amount, choose the account to debit, and press 1 to confirm.
CashSend, for someone with no bank account
This is the feature Absa leads with and almost nobody writes about. It puts cash at an ATM for a person who has no card and no account.
- Dial *224#, enter your PIN.
- Select option 1, Cash Send.
- Enter the recipient's mobile number.
- Enter the amount, in multiples of 1,000.
- Choose the account to send from.
- Create a 4-digit access PIN for the recipient, then confirm it.
- Confirm the transaction. The recipient gets an SMS with the details.
Send the PIN to them separately. Absa says this explicitly and it is the security point of the whole design: the SMS and the PIN travel by different routes, so intercepting one is not enough. Do not put the PIN in the same WhatsApp message as the confirmation screenshot.
Transfers, statements and bills
Absa to Absa: option 5 Bank Services, then 3 Fund Transfer, then 1 for your own account or 2 for another Absa account.
Mini-statement: option 5 Bank Services, then 1 Account services, then Mini Statement.
Registering a biller, for example KPLC: option 5 Bank Services, then 2 Pay bills, then 4 Register a biller, then pick KPLC Postpaid or PataPawa KPLC Prepaid. Our KPLC hub covers which of those you need.
Buying airtime, and an error on Absa's own page
For your own number: dial *224#, enter your PIN, select option 4, Airtime Top up, choose the operator, enter the amount with no decimals, choose the account or credit card to debit, press 1 to confirm.
For somebody else's number, do not follow Absa's own page. It tells Kenyan customers to dial *233# and lists the networks as "Airtel/MTN/Africell/UTL". MTN, Africell and UTL do not operate in Kenya. That block is Absa Uganda's instructions sitting on the Kenyan page.
We dialled *233# in Kenya on 13 September 2026. It does not work. So this is not a theory about a copy-paste error, it is a tested dead end: a customer following the bank's own published instructions gets nowhere.
Stay on *224# and use the airtime menu, choosing "other number" when it offers. If the menu on your handset does not match, ring +254 722 130120 rather than dialling an unfamiliar code, because an unfamiliar USSD menu is exactly where people key in a PIN out of habit. We have flagged this to Absa, and will update this page if it is corrected.
One security rule
About this guide
| Task | Path from *224# |
|---|---|
| CashSend | Option 1 |
| Send to M-PESA or Airtel Money | Option 2 |
| Buy airtime | Option 4 |
| Mini-statement | Option 5, then 1, then Mini Statement |
| Pay or register a biller | Option 5, then 2 |
| Absa to Absa transfer | Option 5, then 3 |
| Forgot PIN | Option 1 at the login prompt |
Frequently asked
What is the Absa USSD code?
*224#. Absa calls the service Hello Money.
Can I withdraw from Absa to M-PESA?
Yes. On *224# choose option 2, Mpesa/Airtel Money, then pick the wallet and the account to debit.
Do I need to go to a branch to register for *224#?
No. There is a self-registration option on the code itself, but you need your debit card, because it asks for card digits and the expiry date.
What is Absa CashSend?
A way to send cash that the recipient collects at an ATM with no card and no account, using a 4-digit PIN you create and send to them separately.
Does *224# work without internet?
Yes, on any handset and any network.
Is the Absa airtime code *233#?
Not in Kenya. Absa's own page shows *233# alongside Ugandan networks, and we dialled it in Kenya on 13 September 2026: it does not work. Use the airtime menu inside *224#.