Glossary
STK Push
An M-Pesa payment method where the customer receives a prompt on their phone to authorise payment by entering their PIN, rather than manually entering a Paybill or Till number.
In plain terms
The payment method where the customer receives a prompt on their phone and authorises by entering their PIN, instead of leaving your checkout to enter a Paybill or Till number manually.
It converts better than manual entry because it removes the step where people leave the page, mistype a number, or forget the reference.
Why it matters in Kenya
For most Kenyan online stores it should be the default checkout method, with manual Paybill offered as a fallback for the cases where the prompt does not arrive, which does happen.
What to do about it
Four checks you can run on your own site this week.
- Make it the default, with manual details visible as a fallback
- Show the customer what to expect: a prompt, then a confirmation
- Handle the timeout case explicitly rather than leaving the order in limbo
- Reconcile automatically against the order, not by eye at the end of the day
More terms
Other words you will meet when commissioning web, e-commerce or search work in Kenya.
- eTIMSThe Kenya Revenue Authority's electronic Tax Invoice Management System.
- .co.ke DomainThe second-level domain for Kenyan commercial entities, registered through KeNIC.
- KeNICThe Kenya Network Information Centre, the registry responsible for the .ke country-code top-level domain and its second-level domains including .co.ke.
