Parents with children away at boarding school or living independently often need to top up a Equitel line remotely, without being physically near the child.

How remote top-ups work: As long as you have the child's correct phone number, you can send airtime directly to their line from your own M-Pesa menu, no matter where you are.

Step 1: Open your M-Pesa menu and select Lipa na M-Pesa, then Pay Bill.

Step 2: Key in 4142145, TeelPay's official paybill for buying airtime for all networks including Equitel.

Step 3: Enter the Equitel number you want to top up as the account number.

Step 4: Type the amount you want to buy, then enter your M-Pesa PIN to confirm.

Step 5: You will get an M-Pesa confirmation SMS almost immediately, followed by a top-up alert from Equitel itself.

This removes the need to send cash through a third party or wait until visiting day to hand over physical scratch cards, which many schools no longer allow students to keep anyway.

Because the payment runs through Safaricom's official Lipa na M-Pesa Paybill system, it carries the same security as every other M-Pesa transaction you make, complete with a confirmation SMS you can refer back to at any time.

TeelPay exists so that buying airtime for all networks in Kenya, Equitel included, does not require separate apps, agents or shortcodes. One paybill number, 4142145, covers Safaricom, Airtel, Faiba and Equitel, so you only ever need to remember one number no matter whose line you are topping up.

Kenya's airtime habits have shifted fast: Equitel lines today are used for far more than calls, they power mobile money, data bundles, USSD banking and countless small daily transactions. Keeping a line active is rarely optional, which is why having more than one reliable way to top up matters, especially one that does not depend on an agent's opening hours or available float.

Save Paybill 4142145 in your M-Pesa favourites, and the next time your Equitel line runs low on airtime, you will be back online in under a minute, no matter where you are or what time it is.