Kenyan SACCOs use bulk SMS for four jobs: confirming deposits and contributions, reminding members about loan instalments, announcing AGMs and dividends, and alerting guarantors. Below are ready-to-use templates for each, in English and Kiswahili, plus how to set up a transactional sender ID and what the CBK's rules on digital lending mean for SACCOs with app-based loans.

Last reviewed: 27 October 2026

Replace the brand, paybill and placeholders with your own. Every template is designed to fit in one SMS segment (160 GSM characters) once the placeholders are filled in with typical values, so each member costs one message.

Before you send: set up the right sender ID

On Safaricom, a sender ID is either transactional or promotional, and one ID cannot carry both. All of the templates below are transactional: they report on a member's own account. Register a transactional sender ID in your SACCO's name, for example JENGASACCO, on Safaricom and Airtel. If you also market new products to members, register a second, promotional ID for that, because promotions must include an opt-out and can only be sent between 08:00 and 18:00 on Safaricom.

eSMS Africa handles the registration with each network. The one-off fees and documents are on the Kenya sender ID page, and our guide to promotional vs transactional sender IDs explains the split in detail.

Deposit and contribution templates

Send these automatically when a paybill payment or check-off is posted. If your core system receives M-Pesa payments through Daraja, see our Daraja C2B receipt tutorial.

  • Deposit received: "Jenga SACCO: KES {{amount}} received for member {{member}} on {{date}}. Total deposits KES {{total}}. Ref {{ref}}. Asante."
  • Kiswahili: "Jenga SACCO: Tumepokea KES {{amount}} kwa akaunti {{member}}. Jumla ya akiba yako ni KES {{total}}. Asante."
  • Check-off posted: "Jenga SACCO: Your {{month}} check-off of KES {{amount}} has been posted. Shares KES {{shares}}, deposits KES {{total}}."
  • Missed contribution: "Jenga SACCO: We have not received your {{month}} contribution. Pay via Paybill 123456, Acc {{member}}, to stay in good standing."

Loan templates

Schedule the reminder three days before the due date and send the received message when the payment posts. Cancel the remaining reminders for members who pay early.

  • Loan approved: "Jenga SACCO: Your loan of KES {{amount}} is approved and will be disbursed to your account on {{date}}. First instalment due {{due}}."
  • Instalment reminder: "Jenga SACCO: Dear {{name}}, your instalment of KES {{amount}} is due on {{date}}. Pay via Paybill 123456, Acc {{member}}."
  • Kiswahili reminder: "Jenga SACCO: Mpendwa {{name}}, rejesho la mkopo KES {{amount}} linadaiwa {{date}}. Lipa Paybill 123456, Akaunti {{member}}."
  • Payment received: "Jenga SACCO: KES {{amount}} loan repayment received. Outstanding balance KES {{balance}}. Thank you."
  • Arrears notice: "Jenga SACCO: Your loan is {{days}} days in arrears (KES {{amount}}). Please pay or call 0700 000 111 to agree a plan."
  • Loan cleared: "Jenga SACCO: Congratulations {{name}}, your loan is fully repaid. Your guarantors have been released."

Guarantor templates

Guarantors have a stake in the loan, so keep them informed at the moments that affect them.

  • Guarantee recorded: "Jenga SACCO: You have guaranteed KES {{amount}} of a loan for member {{borrower}}. Call 0700 000 111 if you did not agree to this."
  • Borrower in arrears: "Jenga SACCO: A loan you guaranteed for member {{borrower}} is in arrears. Please contact the SACCO office on 0700 000 111."
  • Guarantee released: "Jenga SACCO: The loan you guaranteed for member {{borrower}} is repaid. Your guarantee of KES {{amount}} is released."

The first template doubles as a fraud check: a member who did not agree to guarantee a loan finds out immediately.

AGM and dividend templates

  • AGM notice: "Jenga SACCO: Our AGM is on {{date}}, 9am, at {{venue}}. Bring your member card. Agenda and accounts: jengasacco.co.ke/agm"
  • Kiswahili AGM notice: "Jenga SACCO: Mkutano mkuu wa mwaka ni {{date}} saa 3 asubuhi, {{venue}}. Kuja na kadi yako ya uanachama."
  • Dividend declared: "Jenga SACCO: The AGM approved a dividend of {{rate}}% on shares and {{interest}}% interest on deposits. Payment from {{date}}."
  • Dividend paid: "Jenga SACCO: Your dividend of KES {{amount}} has been paid to your {{channel}}. Thank you for saving with us."

Sending personalised templates in bulk

You do not need to write each message. Either upload a CSV or Excel export from your core banking system to the eSMS dashboard and map columns to merge fields, or call the bulk API from your system:

curl -X POST https://sms.esmsafrica.io/api/messages/send-bulk \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer esms_live_your_key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "sender_id": "JENGASACCO",
    "text": "Jenga SACCO: Dear {{name}}, your loan instalment of KES {{amount}} is due on {{date}}. Pay via Paybill 123456, Acc {{member}}.",
    "recipients": [
      {"to": "+254712345678", "name": "Wanjiru", "vars": {"amount": "7,800", "date": "05/12", "member": "10234"}},
      {"to": "+254733456789", "name": "Otieno",  "vars": {"amount": "4,250", "date": "05/12", "member": "11871"}}
    ]
  }'

Each member receives their own figures. Test the whole run first with an esms_test_ key, which simulates sends without charge. At live rates, each member costs one standard Kenyan SMS, currently KES 1.08 ($0.0083) at the basic tier, with lower per-message prices for higher volumes on the pricing page.

Rules that matter for SACCOs

SASRA and your members' trust

Deposit-taking SACCOs are licensed and supervised by the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA). Clear, accurate messages about balances, dividends and loans support the transparency members expect. Make sure figures in SMS match statements.

The CBK digital-lending rules

If your SACCO or a partner runs an app-based loan product licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya as a digital credit provider, the CBK (Digital Credit Providers) Regulations, 2022 apply to that product. They bar contacting a borrower's contacts to recover a debt and using threatening or shaming language. Even where the CBK rules do not apply directly, the same practice is wise: under the Data Protection Act, disclosing a member's debt to people in their phone book is a serious risk. Message the borrower and, where they agreed to guarantee the loan, the guarantors. Nobody else.

Data protection

Financial services is a sector where registration with the ODPC is mandatory regardless of size. Name your SMS provider as a data processor, keep messages free of full ID or account numbers, and never send PINs or passwords by SMS.

Keep marketing separate

A new loan product or a holiday savings promotion is marketing. Send it from your promotional ID, only to members who agreed to receive offers, with an opt-out, between 08:00 and 18:00.

More SACCO and bank examples are on our banking and SACCOs use-case page.

Frequently asked questions

Can a SACCO send loan reminders in Kiswahili?

Yes. Kiswahili uses the standard GSM alphabet, so a Kiswahili message fits 160 characters per segment just like English. Store each member's preferred language and send the matching template. Many SACCOs send Kiswahili to members in rural branches and English to urban branches.

How many SMS will a monthly reminder run cost?

One message per member, as long as each filled template stays under 160 characters. Very long names or extra fields can push a message into two segments, so preview a sample of filled messages in the dashboard before sending.

Can we text a member's next of kin about arrears?

Avoid it. A next of kin is not a guarantor and has not agreed to be contacted about the loan. For CBK-licensed digital lenders, contacting a borrower's contacts to recover a debt is prohibited, and for any SACCO it risks a data protection complaint.

Do these templates need an opt-out?

No. Account alerts, reminders and guarantor notices are transactional and do not need an opt-out under Safaricom's rules. Product promotions do.

Sources

Ready to send your first member alerts? See bulk SMS in Kenya and create a free eSMS Africa account to upload your member list.