What I&M actually charges to move money

Almost every write-up about I&M says the same thing, that I&M made M-PESA transfers free in both directions and that is the end of it. That story comes from a real event, in January 2023, when I&M became the first Kenyan bank to waive Bank to M-PESA and Bank to Airtel Money charges after CBK reintroduced them. It was reported at the time as permanent.

But that was three and a half years ago, and a fee waiver is a commercial decision a bank can revisit. So rather than repeat the press release, we read I&M's current tariff. The picture there is more useful, and more complicated.

Here is the part that gets flattened everywhere else. I&M's tariff has a banded charge headed "Bank to M-Pesa (Business Accounts, Single Transaction)", running from KES 0 under a hundred shillings up to KES 65 at the top. The table is below.

The tariff carries no equivalent row for personal accounts, which is consistent with the 2023 waiver still standing. An absence is not a statement, so we confirmed it with I&M directly on 13 September 2026: sending from a personal account to M-PESA is still KES 0.

So the free-in-both-directions story is true, but only if you are a personal customer. If you hold a business account, the band below is what you pay.

This one surprises people, and it is worth knowing before you form a habit. Sending from your I&M account to a paybill is charged on a steep band: KES 17 at the bottom, KES 170 for amounts from 10,000 to 34,999, and KES 260 from 35,000 to 49,999.

Paying a till from the bank runs KES 60 to KES 100. A utility payment is KES 66.

So for a personal customer, moving money to M-PESA first and paying the paybill from the wallet is often cheaper than paying the paybill directly from the bank, because the first leg is free and the M-PESA pay-bill tariff is usually well under the bank's charge. Run your own amount through the paybill calculator and compare before assuming.

From the same tariff, and worth knowing because these are the things people avoid doing in case they are charged:

• All enquiry transactions, and the internet banking subscription itself.
• Balance enquiry and mini-statement.
• Account summary, deposit and loan details.
• Internal funds transfer between your own I&M accounts.
• Airtime top-up.
• PIN change, adding beneficiaries, stop cheque requests.
• Full statement, cheque book request, e-statement registration, forex enquiry, standing instruction setup.
• SMS alerts, both local and international, listed at Nil. That is unusual, and worth noting given other banks charge a monthly subscription for the same thing.