Airtel Mobile Money

Airtel Mobile Money

Airtel Mobile Money is a widely used mobile financial service that allows customers to perform financial transactions using their mobile phones. With Airtel Mobile Money, businesses can offer a convenient and secure payment option to their customers, enabling real-time money transfers, payments, and more.

Introduction

Airtel Mobile Money is an essential payment method for businesses targeting markets in Africa where mobile money services are prevalent. Integrating Airtel Mobile Money with PayOS allows you to accept payments, initiate transfers, and manage financial transactions efficiently. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of how to integrate Airtel Mobile Money into your application or website using PayOS.

Pre-requisites

Before accepting Airtel Mobile Money payments through PayOS, ensure you meet the following requirements:

• PayOS Integration:
  You have integrated with PayOS, either using our hosted checkout, SDK, or server-to-server API.

• Payment Processor Configuration:
  You have set up an integration account for Airtel Mobile Money with supported Payment Service Providers (PSPs) in PayOS. Currently, Airtel Mobile Money is supported through PSPs such as Flutterwave, Cellulant, Paystack, and directly through Airtel. Ensure that the commercial relationships with these PSPs are in place or can be utilized through PayOS.

• Enable Airtel Mobile Money:
  You have enabled Airtel Mobile Money as a payment option in your PayOS configuration through the PayOS Portal.

• Meta Fields Setup:
  If Airtel Mobile Money requires specific meta fields (such as mobile number or consent details), ensure these fields are correctly configured under Merchant configurations -> Meta fields on your PayOS dashboard and included in your requests.

Ways to Integrate Airtel Mobile Money with PayOS

PayOS supports multiple integration methods for offering Airtel Mobile Money at checkout:

1. PayOS Hosted Checkout
   Using PayOS’s hosted checkout is the simplest way to accept Airtel Mobile Money payments. With this option:

   • Minimal development is required on your end.
   • PayOS automatically displays the Airtel Mobile Money payment method during checkout.
   • You can control the payment methods offered through the session creation API call, specifying Airtel Mobile Money as a restricted method if desired.

2. PayOS SDK
   If you prefer more control over your checkout experience, you can integrate with the PayOS SDK:

   • The SDK provides UI components to include Airtel Mobile Money as a payment method seamlessly.
   • It simplifies capturing any required inputs (like mobile number) and initiating transactions without extensive server-side coding.
   • Consult the PayOS SDK documentation for detailed steps on integrating Airtel Mobile Money.

3. Server-to-Server Integration
   For complete control over your payment process and checkout flow, you can integrate Airtel Mobile Money using PayOS’s server-to-server APIs:

   • This approach offers greater flexibility in implementing the payment flow and handling customer data.
   • You will be responsible for capturing necessary inputs (e.g., mobile number) and forwarding them to PayOS securely.

Let’s explore the server-to-server approach in more detail.

Retrieving Available Payment Methods

Using the PayOS API, you can retrieve a list of available payment methods for a given checkout session by calling the GET /v1/payment/available-methods endpoint with a sessionId. For Airtel Mobile Money, the method type is typically returned as mobileMoneyAirtelMomo.

Request:

$
curl -G https://api.payos.money/api/v1/payment/available-methods \
>
     -d sessionId={sessionId}

Response:

1
{
2
  "success": true,
3
  "availableMethods": [
4
    {
5
      "type": "mobileMoneyAirtelMomo",
6
      "name": "Airtel Mobile Money",
7
      "requiredInput": [
8
        {
9
          "name": "mobileNumber",
10
          "type": "text",
11
          "label": "Mobile Number"
12
        },
13
        {
14
          "name": "provider",
15
          "type": "select",
16
          "label": "Mobile Money Provider",
17
          "options": ["Airtel Mobile Money", "Other Providers"]
18
        }
19
      ]
20
    },
21
    ...other methods...
22
  ]
23
}

In this response:

• The Airtel Mobile Money payment method is listed with "type": "mobileMoneyAirtelMomo".
• The requiredInput field indicates that the customer must provide details such as their mobile number and select their mobile money provider.

Creating a Checkout Session

To create a checkout session that includes Airtel Mobile Money as a payment option, make a POST request to the /v1/checkout/session endpoint. You can specify which payment methods to offer in the paymentMethods array. For Airtel Mobile Money, set "type": "mobileMoneyAirtelMomo".

$
curl -X POST https://api.payos.money/api/v1/checkout/session \
>
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>
     -d '{
>
  "amount": 1000,
>
  "currency": "UGX",
>
  "integrationType": "hosted",
>
  "merchantReference": "ORDER12345",
>
  "redirectUrl": "https://merchant.com/redirect",
>
  "brand": "merchant-brand-key",
>
  "payerToken": "TOKEN_abcdef123456",
>
  "payerDetails": {
>
    "payerName": "Jane Doe",
>
    "payerEmailAddress": "jane.doe@example.com",
>
    "payerMobileNumber": "0712345678",
>
    "payerLocation": "UGA"
>
  },
>
  "paymentMethods": [
>
    {
>
      "type": "mobileMoneyAirtelMomo",
>
      "restrict": true
>
    }
>
  ]
>
}'

Response:

1
{
2
  "sessionId": "SESSION_abcdef123456",
3
  "paymentLink": "https://payos.money/checkout/SESSION_abcdef123456"
4
}

In this example:

• The paymentMethods array restricts the session to only the Airtel Mobile Money payment method ("type": "mobileMoneyAirtelMomo").
• restrict set to true ensures that this session provides only Airtel Mobile Money as the available payment method.
• The sessionId in the response references this specific checkout session, which can be used to retrieve available methods, complete the payment, or make further adjustments before checkout completion.

Handling the Payment

After creating a session, your application can direct customers to the paymentLink if using the hosted checkout. If you’re using the PayOS SDK or a server-to-server integration, you’ll use the session details to process the Airtel Mobile Money payment. This involves:

• Initiating Airtel Mobile Money Payments:
  Follow these steps to initiate an Airtel Mobile Money payment:

  1. Collect the Required Details:
     Gather the customer’s mobile number and any other necessary information.

  2. Send the Payment Request:
     Send a POST /merchant/v2/payments/ request to the Wallet Platform with the required information.

  3. Handle the Approval Process:
     Inform the customer to approve the payment using their Airtel Mobile Money client (e.g., mobile app or USSD).

• Verifying Payment Status:
  You can verify the status of the payment in several ways:

  • Polling: Use the transfer status endpoint to check the payment status.
  • Webhooks: If you have webhooks enabled, monitor the payment status through webhook notifications.
  • Callback URLs: For payments with callback_id, PayOS will send the payment details and status to the specified callback URL.

Supported Regions / Countries

Airtel Mobile Money through PayOS is supported in the following regions and countries:

Supported Currencies:

(Note: Support for additional regions and countries may be added in the future. Check PayOS documentation or contact support for updates.)

Supported Workflows and Services

The following table outlines the workflows and services supported when using Airtel Mobile Money with PayOS:

Ensuring a Seamless and Secure Payment Experience

To optimize your integration and ensure customer satisfaction, consider the following best practices:

• Prioritize Security and Compliance:
  Protecting customer data is paramount. PayOS adheres to PCI DSS standards and other relevant regulations. Ensure you also follow any additional region-specific compliance requirements, especially when handling sensitive financial information across different countries.

• Focus on a Smooth User Experience:
  Present payment methods clearly and intuitively. When customers reach the checkout stage, they should easily recognize and trust the payment options available. For example, highlight local payment methods prominently in regions where they are popular.

• Monitor Performance and Reliability:
  Keep an eye on transaction success rates and processing times. PayOS’s dashboard provides insights into each payment method’s performance, enabling you to resolve any latency or downtime issues quickly to maintain customer trust.

• Scale with Your Business Growth:
  As your business expands, your payment needs may evolve. PayOS’s flexible infrastructure makes it easy to add new payment methods, integrate with additional PSPs, or adjust your configurations to handle increased transaction volumes without compromising performance.

Additional Resources and Next Steps

With PayOS, managing and enabling diverse payment methods becomes more efficient and manageable. For detailed integration instructions, coding examples, and advanced customization options, explore these resources:

• PayOS API Documentation
  Dive deeper into PayOS’s API endpoints and discover how to implement server-to-server integrations, handle advanced payment flows, and manage transactions programmatically.

• Integration Guides
  Review step-by-step guides for integrating PayOS’s SDKs or connecting to popular PSPs, ensuring a smooth setup experience regardless of your technical background or business model.

• Airtel Developer Documentation
  Access comprehensive guides, API references, and best practices directly from Airtel to enhance your integration.

By configuring Airtel Mobile Money with PayOS, you can offer your customers a streamlined and secure mobile money payment experience tailored to their preferences and regional payment norms. Continuously refine your payment configurations and leverage PayOS’s robust features to stay agile in an ever-evolving e-commerce landscape.