Know your M-PAiSA fees

Vodafone Fiji has clarified that M-PAiSA users can make up to three money transfers a day for free, with a 50-cent fee applying from the fourth transfer onwards.

The telecommunications company said the first three M-PAiSA transfers each day were free, but a fee applied to every subsequent transfer.

"A $0.50 fee is applicable on four or more transfers in single day. The fee is charged to ensure this convenient and essential service benefitting thousands of Fijians across the country remains sustainable and available," Vodafone Fiji told the Fiji Sun.

"In addition, all applicable fees are transparently disclosed on the official M-PAiSA tariff page through the following link https://www.vodafone.com.fj/mpaisa-homepage/mpaisa/mpaisa/tariffs and do not have any hidden charges."

According to Vodafone Fiji's tariff schedule, registered M-PAiSA money transfers from $1 to $2000 attract a 50-cent fee. However, M-PAiSA QR payments remain free.

The tariff schedule also states that withdrawals of:

• $1 to $100 incur a $2 fee;
• $101 to $500 incur a $3 fee; and
• $501 to $1000 incur a $4 fee.

The M-PAiSA mobile wallet has a balance limit of $10,000 and a maximum daily withdrawal or transfer limit of $2000.

No fees apply to business payments, while Vodafone Postpay bill payments are free and do not attract Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) charges.

USSD is a real-time messaging protocol that connects mobile phones directly to a network operator's systems.

Customers using the M-PAiSA app to pay Energy Fiji Limited (EFL) or Water Authority of Fiji (WAF) bills do not pay an M-PAiSA app fee, but incur a 50-cent USSD fee.

However, payments to Telecom Fiji Limited (TFL) and Sky Pacific through the app attract both a 50-cent M-PAiSA app fee and a 50-cent USSD fee.

Customers paying South Pacific Business Development (SPBD) through the app incur a 40-cent M-PAiSA fee and a 40-cent USSD fee.

Checking an M-PAiSA account balance attracts a 10-cent USSD fee, while requesting a mini statement (transaction log) costs 20 cents.