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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.

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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)

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Step 1: Create Your Sandbox Account

1

Sign Up

Go to sandbox-app.payfonte.com and create a free account.
2

Verify Email

Check your inbox and verify your email address.
3

Complete Profile

Fill in basic business information to activate your account.

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Step 2: Get Your API Credentials

API Keys Location in Dashboard
1

Navigate to Settings

Log into your dashboard and click on Settings in the sidebar.
2

Go to API Keys/Webhooks

Click on API Keys/Webhooks tab.
3

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.
Webhooks notify your server about transaction status changes in real-time.
1

Go to API Keys/Webhooks

In Settings → API Keys/Webhooks, find the webhook configuration section.
2

Enter Your Callback URL

Add your webhook endpoint URL (e.g., https://yoursite.com/payfonte/webhook).
3

Save Configuration

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

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Environment URLs

Use these URLs for development and testing:
ServiceURL
API Base URLhttps://sandbox-api.payfonte.com
Dashboardhttps://sandbox-app.payfonte.com
Checkout Pagehttps://sandbox-checkout.payfonte.com
Sandbox transactions are simulated and do not involve real money.

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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"
    }
  }'

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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"
  }
}

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

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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.

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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

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Troubleshooting

Double-check your client-id and client-secret. Ensure you’re using sandbox credentials with the sandbox URL.
Make sure the currency matches the country. For example, Nigeria uses NGN, Kenya uses KES. See Supported Providers for valid combinations.
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