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Guide

Load a Prepaid Card from M-PESA: Every Kenyan Bank 2026

The M-PESA paybill and account number for loading a prepaid card at Equity, KCB, Co-op, Absa, DTB, Family, I&M, Prime and more, from each bank's own pages.

AO
by Reviewed by Michael Mwangi 8 min read Updated 23 October 2026Verified 23 Oct 2026

Paybill and account number by bank

BankPaybillAccount number
Equity247247Prepaid card number, 000210XXXXXXXXX
KCB52252216-digit card number
Co-op Bank400200Capital P, then the card account number
Absa30306916-digit card number
DTB505151Last 6 digits of the card serial (DTB0DTB…)
Family Bank22216916-digit card number
I&M Bank87265116-digit card number
Prime Bank982800Not published for cards. Ask Prime first.
NCBANot publishedAsk NCBA
SBMNot on the card pageSee the SBM guide

The steps, for any bank in the table

  1. Open M-PESA, choose Lipa na M-PESA, then Pay Bill.
  2. Enter the paybill for your bank from the table.
  3. Enter the account number in the format your bank uses.
  4. Enter the amount, then check the name on the confirmation screen.
  5. Enter your PIN. Check the card balance in the bank's app or prepaid portal, not by assuming.

Equity Bank

Equity's card page says to use paybill 247247 and enter the prepaid card number in the form 000210XXXXXXXXX as the account. You can also load through Equitel, the Equity app (Transact, Pay to card), *247# and any Equity agent. The tariff guide revised February 2025 lists an application fee of KES 500 and a replacement fee of KES 300, excluding tax.

KCB

KCB's Mastercard Prepaid and Carrefour Prepaid card pages both say paybill 522522 with the 16-digit card number as the account. The KCB multicurrency card page says only that it can be funded through M-PESA, without giving the steps, and the Visa and UnionPay prepaid pages do not mention M-PESA at all. If you hold one of those three, confirm with KCB before using 522522.

Co-op Bank

Co-op's prepaid card page says to use paybill 400200 with the account P followed by the card account number, and that the P must be a capital letter. Co-op says there is no charge for loading. You can also load in cash at a Co-op Kwa Jirani agent or branch, where you must show the card.

Absa

Absa's prepaid page says to load on paybill 303069 with the 16-digit card number. This is not the 303030 account paybill. Absa's tariff guide effective 1 June 2026 lists a loading fee of KES 116 per load and a forex markup of 3.20 percent. Absa's business prepaid page quotes KES 126 per load including the SMS alert, so the figure depends on the card.

DTB

DTB's FAQ says to use paybill 505151 and enter the last 6 digits of the card serial, which starts DTB0DTB. That serial is not the number embossed on the front. The card needs a DTB account. DTB's tariff lists a 7 percent charge on card FX transactions.

Family Bank

Family Bank's card FAQ says to use paybill 222169 with the 16-digit card number, and that the minimum top-up is KES 200. This is not the 222111 account paybill. The first top-up also activates the card. You do not need a Family Bank account, and the tariff guide as at January 2026 lists the card at KES 350.

I&M Bank

I&M's Safari, Travel and Multicurrency prepaid card pages all say to use paybill 872651 with the 16-digit card number. This is not the 542542 account paybill. I&M lists the reload fee as nil. Full steps and the card fees are in the I&M prepaid card guide.

Prime Bank

Prime's multicurrency card page says the card loads in KES through M-PESA paybill 982800, the same number Prime uses for account deposits. The page does not say what to enter as the account for a card. Ask Prime before you send. Prime caps M-PESA loads at KES 150,000 per transaction and KES 300,000 a day.

Banks that say M-PESA but print no number

  • NCBA: the prepaid page says you can load in shillings through M-PESA at no cost, with no paybill or account format.
  • Credit Bank (Konnect): the cards page lists M-PESA as a load option with no paybill.
  • SBM: the Platinum Multicurrency card page says the card loads via M-PESA with no number. See the SBM guide.
  • Ecobank (CashXpress): the page says to load at a branch. No M-PESA route is listed.

We found no personal prepaid card on the Stanbic, Standard Chartered, Sidian, Gulf African or Kingdom Bank sites.

Sources, read 23 October 2026

  1. Equity PrePaid Card page and tariff guide (revised February 2025), equitygroupholdings.com.
  2. KCB Mastercard Prepaid, Carrefour Prepaid, Multi-Currency, Visa and UnionPay prepaid pages, ke.kcbgroup.com.
  3. Co-op Bank prepaid cards page, co-opbank.co.ke.
  4. Absa personal and business prepaid pages and tariff guide effective 1 June 2026, absabank.co.ke.
  5. DTB general FAQs and tariff guide, dtbk.dtbafrica.com.
  6. Family Bank prepaid card page, card FAQ and tariff guide as at January 2026, familybank.co.ke.
  7. I&M Safari, Travel and Multicurrency prepaid card pages, imbankgroup.com.
  8. Prime Bank multi-currency prepaid card page, primebank.co.ke.
  9. NCBA prepaid and gift cards page, ncbagroup.com; Credit Bank cards page, creditbank.co.ke; SBM cards pages, sbmbank.co.ke; Ecobank prepaid page, ecobank.com.

FAQ

Is the prepaid card paybill the same as the bank account paybill?

Not always. Equity, KCB and Co-op use their normal paybills (247247, 522522, 400200) with the card in the account field. I&M (872651), Family Bank (222169), DTB (505151) and Absa (303069) use a separate paybill just for prepaid cards. Using the account paybill with a card number usually fails or sends the money to the wrong place.

What do I put as the account number?

It depends on the bank. Most want the 16-digit card number. Equity wants the prepaid card number in the form 000210 followed by the rest of the digits. Co-op wants a capital P followed by the card account number. DTB wants the last 6 digits of the card serial, which starts DTB0DTB, not the number on the front.

Does it cost anything to load a prepaid card from M-PESA?

You pay the normal M-PESA paybill charge. On top of that, Absa charges KES 116 per load on its tariff guide. I&M lists the reload fee as nil, and Prime lists loading as free. Check the bank's tariff before you load a large amount.

Can I load foreign currency from M-PESA?

No. M-PESA sends Kenya shillings. On a multicurrency card the shillings land in the KES wallet, and you move them into USD, GBP or EUR inside the bank's app or portal at the bank's rate. Prime Bank says this directly: M-PESA loads are in KES only.

My bank says I can load via M-PESA but gives no paybill. What do I do?

Ask the bank for the paybill and account format before you send money. NCBA, Credit Bank and SBM all say their prepaid cards load via M-PESA without printing the number on the card page. Do not guess with the bank's account paybill.