Paybill or till?
A paybill lets tenants enter an account number with each payment, which is ideal for rent: the account number can be the tenant's unit, such as B4. A till (Buy Goods) is simpler for tenants but carries no account reference, so you have to identify each payment from the name and phone number.
Give every tenant a clear reference
Ask tenants to use their unit number as the account number every time they pay. Put it on their tenancy agreement and on every invoice. Consistent references are what make matching reliable.
The problem with manual matching
Without automation, someone has to read the statement line by line and work out who paid. Payments arrive with wrong account numbers, partial amounts or from a relative's phone, and arrears are easy to miss until they have built up.
How automatic matching works
With NestGrid, each M-Pesa payment is received as it happens and matched to a tenant using the account reference and the phone number on file. The tenant's balance updates straight away, the payment appears against the right unit, and anything that cannot be matched is flagged for you to review instead of being lost.
Good habits
- Send invoices on the same day each month with the amount and the account number to use.
- Confirm receipt to tenants so they know their payment was recorded.
- Review unmatched payments weekly rather than at the end of the month.