The Two Pillars of Your Business: Float and Cash
As an Mpesa agent, you deal with two types of money:
- E-float — the digital Mpesa balance in your agent till, used to process customer deposits (customer gives you cash, you send them e-float).
- Physical cash — used to process customer withdrawals (customer sends you e-float, you give them cash).
The Golden Rule
You need a healthy balance of BOTH float and cash. If you run out of float, you can't process deposits. If you run out of cash, you can't process withdrawals.
How Commissions Work
- Safaricom pays commissions on both deposits and withdrawals, though deposit commissions are typically smaller than withdrawal commissions.
- Commissions are calculated on a tiered structure based on transaction amount (e.g., a KSh 500 withdrawal earns a different commission than a KSh 10,000 withdrawal).
- Commissions are paid out monthly directly into your registered account by Safaricom, split between you and your Head Agent (typically 40-60% or 50-50%, negotiated with your aggregator).
Example Commission Breakdown (Illustrative)
| Transaction Type | Amount Range | Approx. Commission | |---|---|---| | Withdrawal | KSh 100 - 1,500 | KSh 4 - 15 | | Withdrawal | KSh 2,500 - 5,000 | KSh 25 - 45 | | Withdrawal | KSh 10,000 - 20,000 | KSh 65 - 100 | | Deposit | Any amount | Smaller, often shared with Head Agent |
(Actual rates vary and are set by Safaricom — confirm current rates with your Head Agent.)
Managing Cash Flow
- Do a rebalancing trip (converting excess cash to float, or vice versa) at least once daily.
- Keep a buffer of both cash and float — never operate at zero.
- Track your daily transactions using the Daily Reconciliation Template in Module 4.