How to track rent payments with M-Pesa

Most rent in Kenya arrives by M-Pesa, which is fast for tenants and hard to keep track of for landlords. Codes arrive in a long list of messages, tenants send "nimetuma" without the code, part payments get mixed up, and at the end of the month nobody is sure who still owes what.

A routine that works, with or without an app: - Give every tenant one way to pay: a Paybill with their unit as the account number, a Till, or one M-Pesa number. Fewer ways means fewer mix-ups. - Ask tenants to send you the M-Pesa code, not just "I have paid". - Keep one list per month: unit, tenant, rent due, amount received, M-Pesa code and date. - Count a month as paid only when the amounts add up to the full rent. Part payments are common; write each one down. - Give a receipt for every payment, so the tenant has proof and you have a record. - On the 5th, remind anyone who has not paid in full, politely and with the amount.

This works on paper or in a spreadsheet, but it takes time every month. Dami does the same routine for you: tenants tell you in the app when they have paid, you paste your M-Pesa messages and Dami matches the codes, each confirmed payment gets a receipt with a check code, and a reminder on WhatsApp takes one tap. Rent still goes straight to your Paybill, Till or number. Dami never holds it.

Dami is free for landlords during launch. See what it does at damiproperties.com/landlords.