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paybillke
Verified 13 September 2026

Pay Qatar Airways with M-PESA: paybill 816850

By Dennis Kiptoo

Qatar Airways paybill is 816850, and the account field is your booking reference. We confirmed the number works in September 2026 by testing it, which matters more than it sounds: almost every page quoting 816850 is repeating a Safaricom press release from March 2014, and none of them says so. Pay, then read the confirmation SMS before closing it — the e-ticket follows by email.

Paybill
816850
Account field
Your Qatar Airways booking reference

The booking reference comes from the qatarairways.com/ke booking flow or from the Nairobi reservations office when you hold a fare. Have it in front of you before you open M-PESA.

Why we tested this one instead of citing the source

The only public source for 816850 is a Safaricom press release announcing the Qatar Airways M-PESA partnership, dated March 2014 and untouched since. A twelve-year-old number on a page nobody maintains is exactly how bad paybills spread: this site has previously had to correct a superseded Sun King number and remove a bank paybill that had propagated through directories the same way. So 816850 is published here because it was checked in September 2026, not because a press release says it. If it ever needs re-checking, re-test it. Do not re-read the press release.

The flow

  1. Book at qatarairways.com/ke or through the reservations office and take the booking reference.
  2. Lipa na M-PESA → Pay Bill.
  3. Business number: 816850.
  4. Account: your booking reference.
  5. Amount as quoted, then PIN. Keep the M-PESA code; the e-ticket arrives by email.

Long-haul fares and M-PESA limits

This is the practical catch on international tickets rather than domestic ones. A Qatar Airways fare can sit above a single M-PESA transaction limit, in which case the payment simply will not go through at the amount you typed. That is a limit, not a rejected card and not a problem with the paybill. Check the current ceiling on M-PESA transaction limits before you assume something is broken, and note that paying a large fare in several transactions against one reference is worth confirming with the airline first so the parts are matched to the booking.

Frequently asked

What is the Qatar Airways paybill number?

816850, confirmed working in September 2026. The account field is your booking reference.

Is 816850 still current? It appears on a 2014 page.

The press release is genuinely from 2014, which is why we tested the number rather than relying on it. It worked in September 2026.

My fare is larger than M-PESA will send.

That is the M-PESA transaction limit, not the paybill. Check the current limit, and confirm with the airline before splitting one fare across several payments.