M-Pesa Integration for Online Stores: A Simple Guide
28 June 2026 · 6 min read · Mackdish Solutions
STK push, paybill, till, Daraja — plain-English definitions and what each one costs you per transaction, plus how long approval actually takes.
What STK push actually means
STK push is the PIN prompt that appears on your customer's phone during checkout. They enter their M-Pesa PIN, your store receives an instant confirmation, and the order is marked paid without anyone reading out a transaction code.
The alternative — asking customers to pay to a paybill and type the code into a box — loses sales. Every extra step at checkout costs you orders.
Paybill or till number?
A paybill suits businesses that need account references, such as schools or subscriptions. A Buy Goods till suits retail. Both can be connected to Daraja, Safaricom's developer API, for automatic confirmation.
You need the paybill or till registered to your business, plus a Daraja account. Approval for production credentials usually takes 3–10 working days.
What it costs
Safaricom charges standard transaction rates against your paybill or till; there is no separate integration fee from them. Development work to connect your store, handle callbacks and reconcile failed payments typically runs KSh 25,000–60,000 as part of a store build.
Budget for reconciliation logic. Failed and timed-out payments are normal, and a store that does not handle them well creates manual work every single day.