Bill payments
Pay a biller on a customer's behalf - either from stored records, or with account details supplied inline.
A bill payment collects from a payer and settles to a biller in one journey. There are two ways in, depending on whether you keep customer and biller records with us.
POST /transactions/pay-bill |
POST /transactions/pay-bill-ext |
|
|---|---|---|
| Payer's funding | A stored fundingSourceId |
Account details inline in the request |
| Biller | A stored billerId |
merchant* fields inline (optional) |
| Auth | Bearer session or signed API key | Signed API key |
| Best for | A product where customers have saved profiles with us | A gateway-style integration holding its own customer records |
Both are TRANSACTION_TYPE: PAY_BILL and both carry the TRANSACTIONS_WRITE scope. With a test
key both are fully mocked; see Environments and key types.
Stored records: pay-bill
POST /transactions/pay-bill
Idempotency-Key: <a key you persisted>
| Field | Required |
|---|---|
amountToSend |
yes |
sendingCurrency, receivingCurrency |
yes |
billerId |
yes - from GET /billers/list |
fundingSourceId |
yes - from GET /fundingsources/list |
invoiceOrAccountNumber |
The customer's account number with the biller |
description |
no |
customerCardCVV |
When the funding source is a card that requires it |
Show the PayDirect client (defined once in Authentication)
PayDirect has no SDK, so write this once. Every example in these guides calls the client defined here, which means signing lives in exactly one place - and this block is itself a single shared file, so if it changes, it changes on every page at once.
Each version reads PAYDIRECT_HOST, PAYDIRECT_PUBLIC_KEY, PAYDIRECT_RAW_KEY and
PAYDIRECT_SECRET_KEY from the environment, signs every request, and sends an Idempotency-Key
on writes (see Idempotency).
cURL
# paydirect.sh - source this, then call `paydirect POST /transactions/collect "$BODY"`
# Works for GET, POST, PATCH and DELETE; a body is optional.
paydirect() {
local method="$1" path="$2" body="${3:-}"
local ts sig
ts=$(date +%s000) # milliseconds, not seconds
sig=$(printf '%s:%s' "$PAYDIRECT_RAW_KEY" "$ts" \
| openssl dgst -sha256 -hmac "$PAYDIRECT_SECRET_KEY" -hex \
| awk '{print $2}')
curl -sS -X "$method" "$PAYDIRECT_HOST$path" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "x-api-key-id: $PAYDIRECT_PUBLIC_KEY" \
-H "x-api-timestamp: $ts" \
-H "x-api-signature: $sig" \
${body:+-H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)"} \
${body:+-d "$body"}
}
Node.js
// paydirect.js - Node 18+, no dependencies
const crypto = require('crypto');
function signedHeaders() {
const timestamp = Date.now().toString(); // milliseconds
const signature = crypto
.createHmac('sha256', process.env.PAYDIRECT_SECRET_KEY)
.update(`${process.env.PAYDIRECT_RAW_KEY}:${timestamp}`)
.digest('hex');
return {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
'x-api-key-id': process.env.PAYDIRECT_PUBLIC_KEY,
'x-api-timestamp': timestamp,
'x-api-signature': signature,
};
}
async function request(method, path, body, idempotencyKey) {
const headers = signedHeaders();
if (idempotencyKey) headers['Idempotency-Key'] = idempotencyKey;
const response = await fetch(`${process.env.PAYDIRECT_HOST}${path}`, {
method,
headers,
body: body ? JSON.stringify(body) : undefined,
});
return { status: response.status, body: await response.json() };
}
const payDirect = {
get: path => request('GET', path),
post: (path, body, idempotencyKey) => request('POST', path, body, idempotencyKey),
patch: (path, body) => request('PATCH', path, body),
del: path => request('DELETE', path),
};
module.exports = { payDirect };
Python
# paydirect.py - requires `requests`
import hashlib, hmac, os, time, uuid
import requests
HOST = os.environ["PAYDIRECT_HOST"]
def _signed_headers() -> dict:
timestamp = str(int(time.time() * 1000)) # milliseconds, not seconds
signature = hmac.new(
os.environ["PAYDIRECT_SECRET_KEY"].encode(),
f'{os.environ["PAYDIRECT_RAW_KEY"]}:{timestamp}'.encode(),
hashlib.sha256,
).hexdigest()
return {
"Content-Type": "application/json",
"x-api-key-id": os.environ["PAYDIRECT_PUBLIC_KEY"],
"x-api-timestamp": timestamp,
"x-api-signature": signature,
}
def request(method: str, path: str, body: dict | None = None, idempotency_key: str | None = None):
headers = _signed_headers()
if idempotency_key:
headers["Idempotency-Key"] = idempotency_key
response = requests.request(method, f"{HOST}{path}", json=body, headers=headers, timeout=30)
return response.status_code, response.json()
def get(path: str):
return request("GET", path)
def post(path: str, body: dict, idempotency_key: str | None = None):
return request("POST", path, body, idempotency_key or str(uuid.uuid4()))
def patch(path: str, body: dict):
return request("PATCH", path, body)
def delete(path: str):
return request("DELETE", path)
PHP
<?php
// PayDirect.php - requires ext-curl, no packages
final class PayDirect
{
public function get(string $path): array
{
return $this->request('GET', $path);
}
public function post(string $path, array $body, ?string $idempotencyKey = null): array
{
return $this->request('POST', $path, $body, $idempotencyKey ?? bin2hex(random_bytes(16)));
}
public function patch(string $path, array $body): array
{
return $this->request('PATCH', $path, $body);
}
public function delete(string $path): array
{
return $this->request('DELETE', $path);
}
private function signedHeaders(): array
{
$timestamp = (string) round(microtime(true) * 1000); // milliseconds
$signature = hash_hmac(
'sha256',
getenv('PAYDIRECT_RAW_KEY') . ':' . $timestamp,
getenv('PAYDIRECT_SECRET_KEY')
);
return [
'Content-Type: application/json',
'x-api-key-id: ' . getenv('PAYDIRECT_PUBLIC_KEY'),
'x-api-timestamp: ' . $timestamp,
'x-api-signature: ' . $signature,
];
}
private function request(string $method, string $path, ?array $body = null, ?string $key = null): array
{
$headers = $this->signedHeaders();
if ($key !== null) {
$headers[] = 'Idempotency-Key: ' . $key;
}
$ch = curl_init(getenv('PAYDIRECT_HOST') . $path);
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => $method,
CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => $headers,
CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
]);
if ($body !== null) {
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode($body));
}
$raw = curl_exec($ch);
$status = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_RESPONSE_CODE);
curl_close($ch);
return ['status' => $status, 'body' => json_decode($raw, true)];
}
}
Java
// PayDirect.java - JDK 11+, no dependencies
import javax.crypto.Mac;
import javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec;
import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.*;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
import java.time.Duration;
import java.util.UUID;
public final class PayDirect {
private static final String HOST = System.getenv("PAYDIRECT_HOST");
private final HttpClient http = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
public HttpResponse<String> get(String path) throws Exception {
return request("GET", path, null, null);
}
public HttpResponse<String> post(String path, String jsonBody) throws Exception {
return request("POST", path, jsonBody, UUID.randomUUID().toString());
}
public HttpResponse<String> patch(String path, String jsonBody) throws Exception {
return request("PATCH", path, jsonBody, null);
}
public HttpResponse<String> delete(String path) throws Exception {
return request("DELETE", path, null, null);
}
private static String hmacHex(String message, String secret) throws Exception {
Mac mac = Mac.getInstance("HmacSHA256");
mac.init(new SecretKeySpec(secret.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8), "HmacSHA256"));
StringBuilder hex = new StringBuilder();
for (byte b : mac.doFinal(message.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8))) {
hex.append(String.format("%02x", b)); // lowercase hex
}
return hex.toString();
}
private HttpResponse<String> request(String method, String path, String body, String key)
throws Exception {
String timestamp = String.valueOf(System.currentTimeMillis()); // milliseconds
String signature = hmacHex(System.getenv("PAYDIRECT_RAW_KEY") + ":" + timestamp,
System.getenv("PAYDIRECT_SECRET_KEY"));
HttpRequest.Builder builder = HttpRequest.newBuilder(URI.create(HOST + path))
.timeout(Duration.ofSeconds(30))
.header("Content-Type", "application/json")
.header("x-api-key-id", System.getenv("PAYDIRECT_PUBLIC_KEY"))
.header("x-api-timestamp", timestamp)
.header("x-api-signature", signature)
.method(method, body == null
? HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.noBody()
: HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString(body));
if (key != null) {
builder.header("Idempotency-Key", key);
}
return http.send(builder.build(), HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
}
}
C#
// PayDirect.cs - .NET 6+, no packages
using System.Net.Http.Json;
using System.Security.Cryptography;
using System.Text;
public sealed class PayDirect
{
private static readonly HttpClient Http = new();
private static readonly string Host = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PAYDIRECT_HOST")!;
public Task<HttpResponseMessage> GetAsync(string path) =>
SendAsync(HttpMethod.Get, path, null, null);
public Task<HttpResponseMessage> PostAsync(string path, object body, string? idempotencyKey = null) =>
SendAsync(HttpMethod.Post, path, body, idempotencyKey ?? Guid.NewGuid().ToString());
public Task<HttpResponseMessage> PatchAsync(string path, object body) =>
SendAsync(HttpMethod.Patch, path, body, null);
public Task<HttpResponseMessage> DeleteAsync(string path) =>
SendAsync(HttpMethod.Delete, path, null, null);
private static string HmacHex(string message, string secret)
{
using var mac = new HMACSHA256(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(secret));
var hash = mac.ComputeHash(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(message));
return Convert.ToHexString(hash).ToLowerInvariant(); // lowercase hex
}
private static async Task<HttpResponseMessage> SendAsync(
HttpMethod method, string path, object? body, string? idempotencyKey)
{
// Milliseconds since the epoch, not seconds.
var timestamp = DateTimeOffset.UtcNow.ToUnixTimeMilliseconds().ToString();
var signature = HmacHex(
$"{Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PAYDIRECT_RAW_KEY")}:{timestamp}",
Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PAYDIRECT_SECRET_KEY")!);
using var request = new HttpRequestMessage(method, Host + path);
request.Headers.Add("x-api-key-id", Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PAYDIRECT_PUBLIC_KEY"));
request.Headers.Add("x-api-timestamp", timestamp);
request.Headers.Add("x-api-signature", signature);
if (idempotencyKey is not null)
{
request.Headers.Add("Idempotency-Key", idempotencyKey);
}
if (body is not null)
{
request.Content = JsonContent.Create(body);
}
return await Http.SendAsync(request);
}
}
cURL
paydirect POST "/transactions/pay-bill" '{
"amountToSend": 85,
"sendingCurrency": "GHS",
"receivingCurrency": "GHS",
"billerId": "BILLER_ID",
"fundingSourceId": "FUNDING_SOURCE_ID",
"invoiceOrAccountNumber": "ECG-0451182",
"description": "Electricity - August"
}'
Node.js
const { status, body } = await payDirect.post(
'/transactions/pay-bill',
{
amountToSend: 85,
sendingCurrency: 'GHS',
receivingCurrency: 'GHS',
billerId: 'BILLER_ID',
fundingSourceId: 'FUNDING_SOURCE_ID',
invoiceOrAccountNumber: 'ECG-0451182',
description: 'Electricity - August',
},
`bill:${invoice.id}`,
);
Python
status, body = post(
"/transactions/pay-bill",
{
"amountToSend": 85,
"sendingCurrency": "GHS",
"receivingCurrency": "GHS",
"billerId": "BILLER_ID",
"fundingSourceId": "FUNDING_SOURCE_ID",
"invoiceOrAccountNumber": "ECG-0451182",
"description": "Electricity - August",
},
idempotency_key=f"bill:{invoice.id}",
)
PHP
<?php
$result = (new PayDirect())->post('/transactions/pay-bill', [
'amountToSend' => 85,
'sendingCurrency' => 'GHS',
'receivingCurrency' => 'GHS',
'billerId' => 'BILLER_ID',
'fundingSourceId' => 'FUNDING_SOURCE_ID',
'invoiceOrAccountNumber' => 'ECG-0451182',
'description' => 'Electricity - August',
], "bill:{$invoice->id}");
Java
String payload = """
{
"amountToSend": 85,
"sendingCurrency": "GHS",
"receivingCurrency": "GHS",
"billerId": "BILLER_ID",
"fundingSourceId": "FUNDING_SOURCE_ID",
"invoiceOrAccountNumber": "ECG-0451182",
"description": "Electricity - August"
}
""";
HttpResponse<String> response = new PayDirect().post("/transactions/pay-bill", payload);
C#
var response = await new PayDirect().PostAsync("/transactions/pay-bill", new
{
amountToSend = 85,
sendingCurrency = "GHS",
receivingCurrency = "GHS",
billerId = "BILLER_ID",
fundingSourceId = "FUNDING_SOURCE_ID",
invoiceOrAccountNumber = "ECG-0451182",
description = "Electricity - August",
}, idempotencyKey: $"bill:{invoice.Id}");
Note
On a bill payment,
invoiceOrAccountNumberis doing double duty: it is your reference and it is the account the biller will credit. Get it from the customer and validate its shape before submitting - a typo here pays someone else's bill, and the biller, not us, controls whether that can be undone.
Inline details: pay-bill-ext
Supply the paying customer's account details directly. customerAccountType decides which
customer* fields are required - E_WALLET needs customerEwalletType,
customerAccountName and customerAccountNumber; CARD needs the card fields. A bank account
cannot fund a bill payment: customerAccountType: BANK_ACCOUNT is rejected with 400. The wallet
networks available for the payer's side are the same as for
collections.
The optional merchant* fields describe the receiving side where you are not using a stored
biller.
cURL
paydirect POST "/transactions/pay-bill-ext" '{
"amountToSend": 85,
"sendingCurrency": "GHS",
"receivingCurrency": "GHS",
"invoiceOrAccountNumber": "ECG-0451182",
"customerAccountType": "E_WALLET",
"customerEwalletType": "TELECEL",
"customerAccountName": "Ama Serwaa",
"customerAccountNumber": "0204000000",
"customerEmailAddress": "ama@example.com"
}'
Node.js
const { status, body } = await payDirect.post(
'/transactions/pay-bill-ext',
{
amountToSend: 85,
sendingCurrency: 'GHS',
receivingCurrency: 'GHS',
invoiceOrAccountNumber: 'ECG-0451182',
customerAccountType: 'E_WALLET',
customerEwalletType: 'TELECEL',
customerAccountName: 'Ama Serwaa',
customerAccountNumber: '0204000000',
customerEmailAddress: 'ama@example.com',
},
`bill:${invoice.id}`,
);
Python
status, body = post(
"/transactions/pay-bill-ext",
{
"amountToSend": 85,
"sendingCurrency": "GHS",
"receivingCurrency": "GHS",
"invoiceOrAccountNumber": "ECG-0451182",
"customerAccountType": "E_WALLET",
"customerEwalletType": "TELECEL",
"customerAccountName": "Ama Serwaa",
"customerAccountNumber": "0204000000",
"customerEmailAddress": "ama@example.com",
},
idempotency_key=f"bill:{invoice.id}",
)
PHP
<?php
$result = (new PayDirect())->post('/transactions/pay-bill-ext', [
'amountToSend' => 85,
'sendingCurrency' => 'GHS',
'receivingCurrency' => 'GHS',
'invoiceOrAccountNumber' => 'ECG-0451182',
'customerAccountType' => 'E_WALLET',
'customerEwalletType' => 'TELECEL',
'customerAccountName' => 'Ama Serwaa',
'customerAccountNumber' => '0204000000',
'customerEmailAddress' => 'ama@example.com',
], "bill:{$invoice->id}");
Java
String payload = """
{
"amountToSend": 85,
"sendingCurrency": "GHS",
"receivingCurrency": "GHS",
"invoiceOrAccountNumber": "ECG-0451182",
"customerAccountType": "E_WALLET",
"customerEwalletType": "TELECEL",
"customerAccountName": "Ama Serwaa",
"customerAccountNumber": "0204000000",
"customerEmailAddress": "ama@example.com"
}
""";
HttpResponse<String> response = new PayDirect().post("/transactions/pay-bill-ext", payload);
C#
var response = await new PayDirect().PostAsync("/transactions/pay-bill-ext", new
{
amountToSend = 85,
sendingCurrency = "GHS",
receivingCurrency = "GHS",
invoiceOrAccountNumber = "ECG-0451182",
customerAccountType = "E_WALLET",
customerEwalletType = "TELECEL",
customerAccountName = "Ama Serwaa",
customerAccountNumber = "0204000000",
customerEmailAddress = "ama@example.com",
}, idempotencyKey: $"bill:{invoice.Id}");
Resolving the outcome
The first leg is a collection from the payer, so a bill payment routinely sits PENDING while the
payer approves a mobile money prompt. Provider reconciliation can also keep it pending after that.
| Flow | Reconcile endpoint |
|---|---|
pay-bill |
POST /transactions/pay-bill/{id}/reconcile |
pay-bill-ext |
POST /transactions/pay-bill-ext/{id}/reconcile |
Webhooks fire TRANSACTION_SUCCEEDED / TRANSACTION_FAILED. GET /transactions/{id}/journey-snapshot
shows each leg separately, which is what you want when the collection succeeded but the settlement
to the biller did not.
Caution
The terminal-status behaviour described for
PAYOUTandWITHDRAWALis not claimed for bill payments - this path has its own reconciliation logic. If your integration depends on a resolved bill payment never changing state, ask us to confirm for the specific biller you are using rather than assuming it.
Compensation
A two-leg journey can collect successfully and then fail to settle. When that happens the
transaction enters compensation, and you may see TRANSACTION_COMPENSATION_REQUIRED followed by
TRANSACTION_COMPENSATION_COMPLETED on your webhook endpoint. Handle those events by marking the
payment as unresolved in your own system and waiting for the terminal outcome - do not tell the
customer their bill is paid on the strength of the collection leg alone.
Next
Reference data - billers, banks, recipients and funding sources.