Airtel for Business? 4 Ways to Save Big and Make Life Easier for Your Customers

By Cyrus Kioko

If you’re a business owner and your answer doesn’t involve cutting costs or boosting your hustle, you might be sleeping on a serious opportunity.

Airtel can be much more than your backup SIM or “TikTok line.” Used right, it can power your hustle, save you money, and even make life easier for your customers.

Here are 4 smart ways to make Airtel work harder for your business.

Heads up: We’re not officially partnered with Airtel, and they haven’t endorsed this article (and we’re not endorsing them either). Prices and offers mentioned here might change, so it’s best to double-check directly with Airtel for the latest info.

Watu wanatumia Airtel Money more than ever. According to the latest stats, Airtel Money has been stead...since October 2024. Perhaps not by coincidence, M-Pesa’s market share has dropped in the same period.

Sure, M-Pesa still dominates the market despite the drop, but one thing is for sure: watu wameanza kutambua Airtel Money. And guess what? They don’t want to be forced to use M-Pesa if they already have money on Airtel.

So, as a forward-thinking business owner, you need to start accepting payments from Airtel users. The good news is that you don’t need a designated Airtel Till number to do that. Thanks to the Merchant Interoperability initiative, any active Lipa Na M-PESA Buy Goods and Services Till can now receive payments from Airtel Money.

This has been the case since 2022, but customers wengi hawajui. As a business owner, ni job yako kuwachanua. Tafta poster ueka kwa biz yako, even if it’s a simple printed note saying “Airtel Money accepted.”

Kwa io poster, make sure ume-indicate that hakuna transcation costs wakilipa na Airtel Money, and that the process is as simple as:

1. Dialing *334# on their Airtel line

2. Selecting option 6

3. Choosing “M-Pesa till”

4. Entering the M-Pesa till number, followed by the amount, and the PIN.

Your Airtel customers will appreciate it. Some might even choose your business over others just because you saved them the hassle (and extra charges) of moving money to M-PESA. In the competitive markets most businesses operate in, every small advantage counts. Don’t sleep on this one.

Kila biz inahitaji communication. Kuongea na customers, kureply DMs, kutuma location kwa delivery guy, ku-update investors juu ya progress, ama ata kuuza pale TikTok Live — izi ni order of the day for most biz owners. And don’t get me started on those with an online presence on social media: they’re constantly pushing out content, responding to comments, and so on.

All that back and forth needs two things: data bundles and airtime. This is where Airtel comes through big time.

Ka ushai tumia Safaricom ku-browse ama ku-call, you know the deal: a few minutes on call ushaskia kale ka-beep ka low airtime. And don’t even get me started on those bundles. Some sources, like this Reddit rant, have it that 1GB ya Safaricom na 1GB ya Airtel are entirely different things!

Airtel fixes both issues with their combo bundles:

For instance, for just KES 1000, Airtel’s SMARTA bundle gives you:

● Daily 1GB data allocation, with any unused balance rolling over to the next day.

● 400 minutes to call across all networks,

● 2000 SMS to any network,

● 3000 minutes to other Airtel users, and

● Free Airtel Money transactions.

That’s serious value, especially compared to what 1000 gets you on Safaricom.

If you're a heavy data user (and let’s face it, most of us MESHERs are), there’s an even better deal. KES 1500 gets you:

● 2GB per day with rollover

● 900 minutes across all networks

● 3000 minutes to other Airtel users

● 5000 SMS to any network

● Still no Airtel Money transaction fees.

And if you’re a first-time user, you get free 1GB data bundles when you download the Airtel Money app.

Want to know how to make money with your smartphone and data? Check our article.

Airtel iko na campaign inaitwa Rudishiwa, where they give you back 50% of your transaction fees as airtime. And the best part? Hii credo haina expiry.

So if you’re always sending money from your bank to your Airtel Money wallet, or paying bills through Airtel, those savings can easily add up to the point where they can cover your airtime needs. Imagine not needing to top up when calling customers, following up on deliveries, or even topping up data! Pretty cool, right?

The 50% refund applies when you:

● Send money from your bank account to your Airtel Money wallet

● Use Airtel Money to pay bills or buy goods—like paying KPLC, using Paybills, or even paying at M-PESA tills.

● Withdrawing cash from an Airtel Money agent

And if you’re subscribed to a SMARTA bundle, the offer gets even better: you get 100% of all transaction fees refunded as airtime.

For MESHERs who are always on the move, managing suppliers, paying for inventory, or handling small daily payments, this adds up quickly. You’re literally getting rewarded for running your biz.

Are you saving any cash? Here are some top tips from Millie.

Airtel 5G Smart Connect is the best way to power a cyber cafe biz in areas where fiber or Starlink is too expensive or unavailable. It uses a plug-and-play router that connects you to the internet via Airtel’s 4G or 5G network, depending on your area.

No cables, no fiber installation. Just a one-time connection fee of KES 2,000, and you unlock internet speeds that are up to 50% faster than standard connections.

Bei nayo? Ni flexible. Ukishalipia installation, utakua unalipia according to your needs, as shown below:

One of the best things about this deal is that haulipii router na installation separately. Io 2k ya connection fee inacover router + installation.

And, the router comes with a built-in battery that can keep it running for 5 to 6 hours. That means when the power goes out (which happens a lot, especially mashinani), your internet doesn’t.

Sweet deal if you ask me.

Is running a cuber even a good biz? Check out this video.

To get started, go to your nearest airtel shop. Make sure uko na enough to cover the connection fee and at least one month of your preferred plan.

Clearly, Airtel can be way more than just your backup SIM. But hey, every hustle is different. What works for me might not work for you, and that’s okay.

I’m actually curious what you think: Does Airtel make sense for your biz? Ama you’re still not sold?

Drop your thoughts in the comments — the good, the bad, the “ehh I’m not sure yet.”

Let’s help each other figure out what actually works kwa ground.