Airtel Money Charges in Zambia 2026: Withdrawal, Sending and Bank Fees

Airtel Money charges in Zambia start at K2.50 to withdraw up to K150 at an agent and rise to K60 for K5,001–K10,000, according to Airtel's tariff guide effective 4 January 2026 (still current as of October 2026). Sending K1,000 to another Airtel number costs K3.00 in total: a K1.00 Airtel fee plus the K2.00 government mobile money levy. Deposits, balance checks and reversals are free. Sending to MTN or Zamtel costs about five times more than sending within Airtel.

Airtel Money charges at a glance (Zambia, 2026)

Source: Airtel Zambia's January 2026 tariff guide. Many of the "Airtel Money charges 2026" tables online still show the older withdrawal bands (K30 for K1,001–K3,000, K50 for K3,001–K5,000). Those are out of date. The January 2026 guide charges K35 and K55 for those bands.

How much does Airtel Money charge to withdraw in Zambia?

Airtel charges K2.50 to withdraw up to K150 and K60 for the largest band, K5,001–K10,000. There is no government levy on withdrawals. The levy applies only to transfers, so the agent withdrawal fee below is all you should pay.

Watch the band edges

The fee jumps at the top of each band, and that's where most people overpay.

• Withdrawing K1,000 costs K20. Withdrawing K1,010 costs K35. That extra K10 of cash costs you K15 more in fees.
• Withdrawing K3,000 in one go costs K35. Three withdrawals of K1,000 cost K60, almost double.
• Withdrawing K150 costs K2.50, but K160 costs K5.00.

The cheapest withdrawals sit at the top of a band. K3,000 for K35 works out to about 1.2%. K10,000 for K60 is 0.6%. Small withdrawals are the most expensive in percentage terms: taking out K100 costs 2.5%.

A common mistake when sending money for someone to cash out: say you want your mother in Chipata to receive K1,000 in cash and pay the fee herself. If you add K20 so she can cover the withdrawal, she now holds K1,020. That puts her in the K1,001–K3,000 band, so the withdrawal costs K35 and she walks away with K985. Either send K1,000 and let her pay K20 out of it, or send enough to make the extra worth it.

How much does it cost to send money on Airtel Money?

Sending to another Airtel Money number costs between K0.74 and K12.00, depending on the amount. Since 1 January 2026, more than half of that is the government levy, not Airtel's fee.

Sending within Airtel is cheap. Sending K5,000 costs K10.50, about 0.2%.

Airtel Money to MTN, Zamtel and other wallets: charges

Sending from Airtel Money to an MTN MoMo or Zamtel Kwacha number costs K2.82 for up to K150 and up to K56.50 for K5,001–K10,000. That is roughly five times the cost of sending within Airtel, because Airtel's own fee is much higher for cross-network transfers. The levy is the same.

If you pay the same people often (a worker, a supplier, family), it's worth asking whether they have an Airtel line. Sending K1,000 to them on Airtel costs K3.00; sending it to their MTN number costs K16.50. Over a year of weekly payments, the difference adds up to more than K700.

Airtel Money to bank and international transfer charges

Moving money from your Airtel Money wallet to a bank account costs K2.50 to K50 and carries no levy:

Moving K1,000 to your bank costs K15. Withdrawing the same K1,000 at an agent costs K20. If you're heading to the bank anyway, a wallet-to-bank transfer followed by an ATM withdrawal can work out cheaper, depending on your bank's own ATM fee.

International transfers (sending from Zambia to another country) are priced in eight bands, from K3 for up to K100 to K80 for K6,001–K10,000. For example, K1,000 costs K25 and K3,000 costs K40. This is Airtel's fee only. The exchange rate you get also matters, so check what the recipient will receive before you confirm.

What is the mobile money levy in Zambia?

The mobile money levy is a government tax on person-to-person transfers, collected by the provider and paid to the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA). It started under the Mobile Money Transaction Levy Act, 2024. From 1 January 2026, the 2025 amendment replaced the rates with the higher bands below, which PwC's Zambia tax summary also reports:

Three things to know:

1. The sender pays it, on top of the network fee. It is included in the "total" columns above.
2. It applies on every network. MTN MoMo and Zamtel Kwacha users pay exactly the same levy as Airtel users.
3. Sending to yourself now counts. The 2026 amendment redefined a "person to person transfer" as a transfer to another person "or to that same person". Moving money between your own Airtel and MTN wallets counts as a transfer, so the levy applies.

The levy doesn't apply to agent withdrawals, deposits or wallet-to-bank transfers in Airtel's tariff. It also applies to payments to betting companies, which have their own fee table in the same guide.

What about MTN MoMo charges in Zambia?

MTN Zambia doesn't publish its MoMo tariff on its website (we checked mtn.zm in October 2026), so every MTN table online comes from a third party. Two independent trackers, Smartlink's Zambia tariff comparison and ZamCalc, agree on these MTN agent withdrawal fees for 2026:

Other sites show different MTN figures, so treat this as a guide. Up to K1,000 and above K3,000, MTN and Airtel withdrawals cost the same. Between K1,000 and K3,000 they differ. MTN is cheaper for K1,001–K2,000 (K30 against Airtel's K35). Airtel is cheaper for K2,001–K3,000 (K35 against MTN's K40).

The surest way to know the exact MTN fee is the confirmation screen. MoMo shows the fee before you enter your PIN, so you can back out at no cost. The same mobile money levy applies to MTN transfers as to Airtel ones.

If you get paid from abroad, mobile money is often where the money lands. Our guide to the cheapest ways to send money to Africa from the UK or US compares the apps that pay out to Zambian wallets.

Airtel Money transaction limits in Zambia

The fee tables stop at K10,000 because that's the most you can move in one transaction. If you need to move more, Airtel's daily limit depends on your account tier: K20,000 a day on Tier 1 and K100,000 on Tier 2. To find out what an upgrade needs, ask at an Airtel shop with your NRC.

What's free on Airtel Money?

Airtel's tariff guide lists these at K0.00:

• Depositing cash at an agent
• Registration and monthly fees
• Balance enquiries and mini statements
• Changing your PIN
• Buying airtime
• Paying bills
• Reversals
• Calling customer care

What to watch out for

• Agents adding their own fee. The agent earns a commission from Airtel on your withdrawal. They shouldn't charge you anything on top of the tariff. If an agent asks for extra, note the agent code and report it to Airtel.
• Old fee charts. Search results are full of 2024 and 2025 Airtel tables, and the levy changed on 1 January 2026. If a table shows a K30 withdrawal charge for K1,001–K3,000, it's out of date.
• Splitting withdrawals. Two K1,000 withdrawals cost K40. One K2,000 withdrawal costs K35. Taking cash out in one go is almost always cheaper.
• Sending to the wrong number. Reversals are free, but only if the recipient hasn't spent the money. Call Airtel customer care immediately with the transaction ID from your SMS.
• Scam "Airtel" calls. Airtel will never ask for your PIN. Anyone who calls asking you to "confirm" a reversal by entering your PIN is a scammer.

How Zambia compares with its neighbours

Zambia's per-transaction levy is a flat amount per band, not a percentage. Uganda takes 0.5% on every cash withdrawal; see our breakdown of MTN MoMo and Airtel Money charges in Uganda. Kenya's M-Pesa sending and withdrawal tariffs and Tanzania's M-Pesa charges and reversal rules work differently again. For businesses paying suppliers across borders, PAPSS is worth knowing about. If your salary is paid into Airtel Money, our guide to PAYE, NAPSA and NHIMA in Zambia shows what comes off before it lands.

Frequently asked questions

How much is Airtel Money withdrawal charge for K1,000 in Zambia?

K20.00. K1,000 is the top of the K501–K1,000 band. Withdrawing K1,001 or more moves you into the next band, which costs K35.00.

How much does it cost to send K500 on Airtel Money Zambia?

K1.60 in total to another Airtel Money number: Airtel's K0.80 fee plus the K0.80 government levy. Sending K500 to an MTN or Zamtel number costs K10.80.

Is there a tax on Airtel Money withdrawals in Zambia?

No. The mobile money levy only applies to transfers (person-to-person sends and betting payments). An agent withdrawal costs only Airtel's fee, from K2.50 to K60.

Did Airtel Money charges go up in 2026?

Yes, for transfers. The government levy rose on 1 January 2026 under the Mobile Money Transaction Levy (Amendment) Act, 2025. Airtel also issued a new tariff guide effective 4 January 2026, with K35 and K55 for the K1,001–K3,000 and K3,001–K5,000 withdrawal bands.

What is the maximum amount I can send on Airtel Money Zambia?

K10,000 per transaction. Daily limits are K20,000 on a Tier 1 account and K100,000 on Tier 2.

Is Airtel Money cheaper than MTN MoMo in Zambia?

For most withdrawals, they cost the same. They differ only between K1,000 and K3,000, where MTN is reported to be K5 cheaper for K1,001–K2,000 and K5 dearer for K2,001–K3,000. The bigger saving comes from staying on one network. Sending within Airtel costs a fraction of sending from Airtel to MTN.