Safaricom's Daraja platform exposes M-Pesa services for web and mobile integrations, including business-to-customer payment operations.
Limited
Editorial assessment, not a live-tested payment performance benchmark.
How this is calculatedDeposit fee
Not disclosed
Payout speed
Not disclosed
Currencies
Not disclosed
Regions
1 region
Supported regionsAfricaSafaricom’s Daraja platform exposes M-Pesa services for web and mobile integrations, including business-to-customer payment operations. M-Pesa is a mobile-money rail: pay-ins, disbursements and customer account limits have distinct product requirements. This Kenyan integration should not be treated as a single API or gambling permission covering every M-Pesa country.
Africa operators evaluating local payment method services with country-specific approval.
Verticals served
Strengths
Trade-offs
Figures marked “Not disclosed” have no public source. Most iGaming payment pricing is negotiated per merchant — we leave the gap visible rather than estimating.How we handle sources
Licences
Not disclosed
iGaming stance
The official source describes the product and its use case. This is not an independently measured market-share or performance ranking.
Worth knowing: Use an approved merchant setup for betting; ordinary personal transfers are not a gambling merchant arrangement.
Primary-source review: 5 October 2026. This is documentary research, not live payment testing. Provider claims are identified separately from documented terms.
Safaricom Daraja separates C2B collection notifications from B2C disbursements. A business needs the appropriate Paybill/Till or bulk-disbursement setup; a consumer wallet alone does not activate merchant API access. Official source.
The B2C reference distinguishes BusinessPayment and PromotionPayment; normal business payments support registered M-PESA customers. The API notes that payments to unregistered numbers are no longer supported. Official source.
Safaricom publishes a banded B2C tariff separating business payout charges from optional customer cash-withdrawal costs. Kenyan Safaricom fees and API behaviour cannot be copied to every M-PESA market. Official source.
Seven weighted factors produce 6.3. The heaviest is derived from the stance above, not scored by hand.
Regulatory assessment · 21 October 2026
5.5/10: a current authorisation for the contracting entity was not independently confirmed in the published evidence. The criterion is capped at 5.5 under the unverified-authorisation rubric. This is an evidence limitation, not a finding that the company is unlicensed or unlawful. For schemes and technical platforms, check the actual regulated PSP or acquirer rather than assuming the platform holds its authorisation.
Compliance criterion revised from 7.0 to 5.5 after the evidence review. Other criterion inputs were not changed.
iGaming acceptancederived
What we assess for iGaming acceptanceWhether gambling merchants are onboarded at allWhether the category is core business or a tolerated exceptionMarket-by-market acceptance, not just technical coverageWhether access runs through a scheme participant rather than a contract5.0 × 20% = 1.00
Regulatory & compliance
What we assess for Regulatory & complianceJurisdictions served and licences heldOwn acquiring licence versus a sponsor bankRegulator-imposed payment controls supportedTrack record in regulated markets5.5 × 20% = 1.10
Fees
What we assess for FeesPublished rate cards where they existWhether pricing is knowable before contractingFX spread disclosureRolling reserves and settlement float7.5 × 15% = 1.13
Geography
What we assess for GeographyNumber of markets servedDepth of local methods within eachCurrency listWhether coverage means availability for this category5.0 × 15% = 0.75
Settlement
What we assess for SettlementDeposit-to-balance timeWithdrawal-to-player timeWeekend and holiday behaviourWhether the provider or the scheme sets the limit9.0 × 10% = 0.90
Integration & API
What we assess for Integration & APIAPI and documentation qualitySDKs, plugins and platform connectorsTime from contract to first live transactionSandbox and testing tooling7.0 × 10% = 0.70
Reliability & support
What we assess for Reliability & supportObserved uptime and incident historyStatus page and incident communicationSupport model and escalation pathReconciliation and reporting tooling7.0 × 10% = 0.70
| Factor | Score | Weight | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
iGaming acceptancederivedWhat we assess for iGaming acceptanceWhether gambling merchants are onboarded at allWhether the category is core business or a tolerated exceptionMarket-by-market acceptance, not just technical coverageWhether access runs through a scheme participant rather than a contract | 5.0 | 20% | 1.00 |
Regulatory & complianceWhat we assess for Regulatory & complianceJurisdictions served and licences heldOwn acquiring licence versus a sponsor bankRegulator-imposed payment controls supportedTrack record in regulated markets | 5.5 | 20% | 1.10 |
FeesWhat we assess for FeesPublished rate cards where they existWhether pricing is knowable before contractingFX spread disclosureRolling reserves and settlement float | 7.5 | 15% | 1.13 |
GeographyWhat we assess for GeographyNumber of markets servedDepth of local methods within eachCurrency listWhether coverage means availability for this category | 5.0 | 15% | 0.75 |
SettlementWhat we assess for SettlementDeposit-to-balance timeWithdrawal-to-player timeWeekend and holiday behaviourWhether the provider or the scheme sets the limit | 9.0 | 10% | 0.90 |
Integration & APIWhat we assess for Integration & APIAPI and documentation qualitySDKs, plugins and platform connectorsTime from contract to first live transactionSandbox and testing tooling | 7.0 | 10% | 0.70 |
Reliability & supportWhat we assess for Reliability & supportObserved uptime and incident historyStatus page and incident communicationSupport model and escalation pathReconciliation and reporting tooling | 7.0 | 10% | 0.70 |
| Composite | 6.3 | ||
Mobile money
Currencies
Not disclosed
Payment methods
M-Pesa mobile money, Business-to-customer disbursements
Verticals
SDKs, plugins and connectors
Safaricom Daraja APIs
No third-party rating sourced for Safaricom M-Pesa yet. When one is added it will name its source — Trustpilot, G2 or similar — and the date it was read, in the same way every other figure on this site does.
FAQ
Onboards gambling case by case, and declines many operators outright. The official source describes the product and its use case. This is not an independently measured market-share or performance ranking.
Africa. Coverage is where the rails reach — confirm acceptance for your specific licence separately, because the two are not the same thing.
We have no public rate card for Safaricom M-Pesa. Set by the mobile network operator and its aggregators, and varies by market. Ask for cost per successfully funded account under your own volume and market split rather than a headline rate.
Use an approved merchant setup for betting; ordinary personal transfers are not a gambling merchant arrangement.
The score is calculated from seven weighted criteria. See the scorecard on this page for the current criterion values, weights and total, and the methodology for the formula.
6.3
Limited
Consider for the stated use case after verifying licensing fit and both payment directions. Use an approved merchant setup for betting; ordinary personal transfers are not a gambling merchant arrangement.
Best forAfrica operators evaluating local payment method services with country-specific approval.
Closest by category and score, from the same catalog and the same model.
Boleto BancárioScheme accessBoleto Bancário is a Brazilian payment-slip method rather than a corporate provider.Same category as Safaricom M-Pesa · scores 0.3 lower6.0
PawaPayAcceptedMobile-money collections and disbursements for approved, locally licensed African betting operators.Same category as Safaricom M-Pesa · scores 0.6 higher6.9
PixScheme accessPix is Brazil's instant bank-transfer scheme operated by Banco Central do Brasil, not a standalone commercial PSP.Same category as Safaricom M-Pesa · scores 0.9 higher7.2Put Safaricom M-Pesa next to an alternative
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Compare Safaricom M-PesaReview updated
Terms and availability can change. Confirm current merchant-specific conditions before contracting.
