Quick Start - Payfonte

This guide will help you make your first payment orchestration API call to Payfonte in under 10 minutes. By the end, you’ll have integrated Africa mobile money API capabilities including MTN MoMo API, M-Pesa API, and other local payment methods in Africa.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you’ll need:

A Payfonte sandbox account

Your API credentials (client-id and client-secret)

A tool to make HTTP requests (cURL, Postman, or your preferred language)

Step 1: Create Your Sandbox Account

Go to sandbox-app.payfonte.com and create a free account.

Verify Email

Check your inbox and verify your email address.

Complete Profile

Fill in basic business information to activate your account.

Step 2: Get Your API Credentials

Navigate to Settings

Log into your dashboard and click on Settings in the sidebar.

Go to API Keys/Webhooks

Click on API Keys/Webhooks tab.

Copy Your Credentials

You’ll find your:

client-id - Your unique identifier
client-secret - Your secret key (keep this secure!)

Never expose your client-secret in client-side code or public repositories. Always make API calls from your backend server.

Step 3: Set Up Webhook Callback (Optional but Recommended)

Webhooks notify your server about transaction status changes in real-time.

Go to API Keys/Webhooks

In Settings -> Security -> API Keys and Webhooks, find the webhook configuration section.

Enter Your Callback URL

Add your webhook endpoint URL (e.g., https://yoursite.com/payfonte/webhook).

Save Configuration

Click Save. You can test the webhook using our test transaction feature.

Environment URLs

Sandbox (Testing)
Production (Live)

Use these URLs for development and testing:

Service	URL
API Base URL	`https://sandbox-api.payfonte.com`
Dashboard	`https://sandbox-app.payfonte.com`
Checkout Page	`https://sandbox-checkout.payfonte.com`

Sandbox transactions are simulated and do not involve real money.

Use these URLs for live transactions:

Service	URL
API Base URL	`https://api.payfonte.com`
Dashboard	`https://app.payfonte.com`
Checkout Page	`https://checkout.payfonte.com`

Production transactions involve real money. Ensure thorough testing in sandbox first.

Step 4: Make Your First API Call

Let’s create a checkout session to collect a payment:

curl --location 'https://sandbox-api.payfonte.com/payments/v1/checkouts' \
  --header 'client-id: YOUR_CLIENT_ID' \
  --header 'client-secret: YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
    "reference": "order-001",
    "amount": 5000,
    "currency": "NGN",
    "country": "NG",
    "redirectURL": "https://yoursite.com/payment/success",
    "webhook": "https://yoursite.com/payfonte/webhook",
    "user": {
      "email": "customer@example.com",
      "phoneNumber": "08012345678"
    }
  }'

const axios = require("axios");

const response = await axios.post(
  "https://sandbox-api.payfonte.com/payments/v1/checkouts",
  {
    reference: "order-001",
    amount: 5000,
    currency: "NGN",
    country: "NG",
    redirectURL: "https://yoursite.com/payment/success",
    webhook: "https://yoursite.com/payfonte/webhook",
    user: {
      email: "customer@example.com",
      phoneNumber: "08012345678",
    },
  },
  {
    headers: {
      "client-id": "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
      "client-secret": "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
  },
);

console.log(response.data);

import requests

url = "https://sandbox-api.payfonte.com/payments/v1/checkouts"

headers = {
    "client-id": "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
    "client-secret": "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

payload = {
    "reference": "order-001",
    "amount": 5000,
    "currency": "NGN",
    "country": "NG",
    "redirectURL": "https://yoursite.com/payment/success",
    "webhook": "https://yoursite.com/payfonte/webhook",
    "user": {
        "email": "customer@example.com",
        "phoneNumber": "08012345678"
    }
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)
print(response.json())

<?php
$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => "https://sandbox-api.payfonte.com/payments/v1/checkouts",
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_POST => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        "client-id: YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
        "client-secret: YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET",
        "Content-Type: application/json"
    ],
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
        "reference" => "order-001",
        "amount" => 5000,
        "currency" => "NGN",
        "country" => "NG",
        "redirectURL" => "https://yoursite.com/payment/success",
        "webhook" => "https://yoursite.com/payfonte/webhook",
        "user" => [
            "email" => "customer@example.com",
            "phoneNumber" => "08012345678"
        ]
    ])
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
curl_close($curl);

echo $response;

Expected Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "checkoutId": "chk_abc123xyz",
    "checkoutUrl": "https://sandbox-checkout.payfonte.com/chk_abc123xyz",
    "reference": "order-001",
    "amount": 5000,
    "currency": "NGN",
    "status": "pending"
  }
}

Step 5: Redirect Customer to Checkout

Take the checkoutUrl from the response and redirect your customer to complete payment:

// Redirect customer to checkout
window.location.href = response.data.checkoutUrl;

The customer will:

See available payment methods for their country
Select their preferred method (e.g., MTN MoMo, Bank Transfer)
Complete the payment
Be redirected to your redirectURL

Step 6: Handle the Webhook

When the payment status changes, we’ll send a POST request to your webhook URL:

{
  "event": "payment.completed",
  "data": {
    "reference": "order-001",
    "checkoutId": "chk_abc123xyz",
    "amount": 5000,
    "currency": "NGN",
    "status": "successful",
    "provider": "mtn-momo-nigeria",
    "paidAt": "2025-02-06T10:30:00Z"
  }
}

Always verify webhook signatures and confirm transaction status via API before fulfilling orders.

What’s Next?

Explore Collection Methods

Learn about inline, standard, and direct charge integrations

Set Up Disbursements

Send disbursements to mobile money and bank accounts

View All Providers

See available payment methods by country

API Reference

Complete API documentation

Troubleshooting

401 Unauthorized Error

Double-check your client-id and client-secret. Ensure you’re using sandbox credentials with the sandbox URL.

Invalid Country/Currency Combination

Make sure the currency matches the country. For example, Nigeria uses NGN, Kenya uses KES. See Supported Providers for valid combinations.

Webhook Not Receiving Events

Ensure your webhook URL is publicly accessible and returns a 200 status code. Check your server logs for incoming requests.

Still need help?

Contact our support team at support@payfonte.com

​Prerequisites

​Step 1: Create Your Sandbox Account

​Step 2: Get Your API Credentials

​Step 3: Set Up Webhook Callback (Optional but Recommended)

​Environment URLs

​Step 4: Make Your First API Call

​Expected Response

​Step 5: Redirect Customer to Checkout

​Step 6: Handle the Webhook

​What’s Next?

Explore Collection Methods

Set Up Disbursements

View All Providers

API Reference

​Troubleshooting

Still need help?

Prerequisites

Step 1: Create Your Sandbox Account

Step 2: Get Your API Credentials

Step 3: Set Up Webhook Callback (Optional but Recommended)

Environment URLs

Step 4: Make Your First API Call

Expected Response

Step 5: Redirect Customer to Checkout

Step 6: Handle the Webhook

What’s Next?

Troubleshooting