Most of your customers already pay with their phones. If your website only shows a phone number and asks people to call, you are asking them to leave the place where they were ready to buy. Taking mobile money on the site itself closes that gap.
What you need first
Before any code is written, three things need to be in place:
- A registered business, since providers ask for your registration documents.
- A merchant account, either directly with MTN MoMo and Airtel Money or through a payment gateway that connects to both.
- A website that can hold an order, such as a shop, a booking form or a fees page.
Providers approve merchant accounts themselves, so this step can take longer than the website. Start it early.
Two ways to connect
The direct route means connecting to each provider's own system. You deal with each company separately, but you may pay lower fees. A payment gateway puts one connection in front of several providers. It is quicker to set up and easier to maintain, and the gateway takes a share of each payment.
For most small organisations, a gateway is the simpler place to begin. You can move to direct connections later if your volume grows.
What the customer sees
The customer picks mobile money at checkout and types their phone number. A prompt appears on their phone, they enter their PIN, and the website shows a confirmation. The whole thing takes under a minute when it is set up well.
Confirm the payment before you deliver
This is where many sites go wrong. A "success" screen in the customer's browser is not proof of payment. Your system should wait for the provider to tell it the payment went through, and only then mark the order as paid. Check your records against the provider's statement every day so that missing or doubled payments show up quickly.
Test before you go live
Providers give you a test environment where no real money moves. Run through every case there: a successful payment, a payment the customer cancels, a wrong PIN, and a phone with no balance.
Ask about costs
Ask for every fee in writing: setup fees, a percentage per transaction, and any monthly charge. Then decide whether you will absorb these costs or pass them on to the customer.
If you would like help setting this up, tell us about your project and we will send you a plan and a quote.
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