This section outlines the required parameters for processing payments to mobile money wallets. Transfers to bank accounts follow a similar format—simply make a POST request to our Payout API. However, depending on the beneficiary type and the currency of the account, additional information may be required.

For a complete list of currencies supported for mobile money transfers, please refer to the Supported Currencies page.

How Mobile Money Payout Works

The Fincra Mobile Money API enables businesses to send and receive payments via mobile money providers across Africa. When sending money to a mobile wallet:

Your business initiates a payout request through Fincra's API with recipient mobile wallet details
Fincra processes the request and connects to the appropriate mobile money provider
The recipient receives funds directly in their mobile money wallet
Your business receives a webhook notification confirming the successful transaction
Transaction details are available in your Fincra dashboard for reconciliation

Common Use Cases

Cross-Border Remittances: Send money to recipients in multiple African countries
Salary Disbursements: Pay employees or contractors who use mobile money wallets
Merchant Payouts: Distribute funds to sellers in marketplaces or gig economy platforms
Bill Payments: Enable utility bill payments via mobile money providers
Cash Distribution: Disburse loans, grants, or aid payments to recipients in remote areas
Refunds Processing: Return funds to customers who originally paid via mobile money
Bulk Payments: Process multiple payments in a single batch operation

Mobile Money Properties by Country

Features	GHS (Ghana)	KES (Kenya)	UGX (Uganda)
Mobile wallet providers	MTN, Vodafone, AirtelTigo	Safaricom (M-Pesa), Airtel	MTN, Airtel
Transaction limit (min)	1 GHS	10 KES	500 UGX
Transaction limit (max)	10,000 GHS	150,000 KES	5,000,000 UGX
Available for pay-ins	✅	✅	✅
Available for payouts	✅	✅	✅
Real-time processing	✅	✅	✅
Webhook notifications	✅	✅	✅
Customer phone required	✅	✅	✅
Name validation	✅	✅	✅
Settlement time	Instant	Instant	Instant
Cross-currency support	✅	✅	✅
Supports checkout	✅	✅	✅
Status tracking	✅	✅	✅
Reference ID support	✅	✅	✅
Refund support	Partial	Partial	Partial
Bulk payments	✅	✅	✅
API access	✅	✅	✅
Required sender info	Name, Email	Name, Email	Name, Email
Required recipient info	Phone, Name	Phone, Name	Phone, Name
Decimal amount support	✅	✅	✅
AIRTEL decimal restriction	❌	✅	✅

Common Details
So first, let's go through the basic information needed for any account. You'll need to provide these details.

Field	Mandatory	Type	Description
business	Yes	String	The ID of the business making the payout.
sourceCurrency	Yes	String	The currency which is used to fund the payout
destinationCurrency	Yes	String	The currency in which the recipient will be receiving funds
amount	Yes	String	The value that is to be transferred from the source currency wallet. Note: Decimals are not allowed as 'amount', for mobile money payouts with mobileMoneyCode:"AIRTEL".
description	Yes	String	This is the type of account you want to send your payments to; see payment destinations for more details
paymentDestination	Yes	String	The value should be sent as `mobile_money_wallet`
customerReference	Yes	String	The transaction's unique identifier on your system. Customer references prevent duplicate transactions. We advice that you add it to your payload
quoteReference	No	String	This is the reference generated when the source currency is compared against the destination currency.This is required when the source currency is not the same as the destination currency. You can generate a quote using the Generate quote endpoint.

In addition to the common details needed to process successful payments, the following fields are also required when sending money to a mobile money wallet.

Field	Mandatory	Type	Description
beneficiary	Yes	Object	The recipient of the funds. Depending on the currency and beneficiary type, the properties of the beneficiaries are different.
beneficiary.firstName	Yes	String	The first name of the beneficiary.
beneficiary.lastName	Yes	String	The last name of the beneficiary
beneficiary.phone	No	String	The mobile number of the beneficiary. It should be in this format countryCallingCode(mobile number).e.g 2348027438483. NB: please exclude passing the plus(+) with the number
beneficiary.accountHolderName	Yes	String	This field is required by all types of beneficiaries.
beneficiary.accountNumber	Yes	String	The mobile number of the beneficiary. It should be in this format countryCallingCode(mobile number).e.g 2348027438483. NB: please exclude passing the plus(+) with the number
beneficiary.type	Yes	String	The type of beneficiary, see beneficiary types for more details
beneficiary.country	Yes	String	The country in which the bank of the beneficiary is located. This field should be in ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes e.g NG, GB
beneficiary.email	No	String	The beneficiary's email
beneficiary.mobileMoneyCode	Yes	String	This value is the mobile money wallet provider's code. You must use the List bank endpoint to obtain this value.Note: When mobileMoneyCode is "AIRTEL", the 'amount' field must be a whole number, not a decimal.

The payload should look like this:

{
    "business": "{{The business ID}}",
    "sourceCurrency": "KES",
    "destinationCurrency": "KES",
    "amount": "1000",
    "description": "I want to pay my vendor",
    "paymentDestination": "mobile_money_wallet",
    "customerReference": "b67vfv",
    "quoteReference": "1330bd3c-1e09-4c1c-887f-7f1d72ff905e",
    "beneficiary": {
        "firstName": "Hassan",
        "lastName": "Sarz",
        "accountHolderName": "Hassan Sarz",
        "country": "KE",
        "phone": "2548034567898",
        "mobileMoneyCode": "SAFARICOM",
        "accountNumber": "2548034567898",
        "type": "individual",
        "email": "[email protected]"
    }
}

{
    "business": "{{The business ID}}",
    "sourceCurrency": "GHS",
    "destinationCurrency": "GHS",
    "amount": "1000",
    "description": "i want to pay my vendor",
    "paymentDestination": "mobile_money_wallet",
    "customerReference": "b67vfv",
    "quoteReference": "1330bd3c-1e09-4c1c-887f-7f1d72ff905e",
    "beneficiary": {
        "firstName": "Hassan",
        "lastName": "Sarz",
        "accountHolderName": "Hassan Sarz",
        "country": "GH",
        "phone": "2330803443433",
        "mobileMoneyCode": "AIRTEL",
        "accountNumber": "2330803443433",
        "type": "individual",
        "email": "[email protected]"
    }
}

{
    "business": "{{The business ID}}",
    "sourceCurrency": "UGX",
    "destinationCurrency": "UGX",
    "amount": "1000",
    "description": "I want to pay my vendor",
    "paymentDestination": "mobile_money_wallet",
    "customerReference": "b67vfv",
    "quoteReference": "1330bd3c-1e09-4c1c-887f-7f1d72ff905e",
    "beneficiary": {
        "firstName": "Hassan",
        "lastName": "Sarz",
        "accountHolderName": "Hassan Sarz",
        "country": "KE",
        "phone": "2548034567898",
        "mobileMoneyCode": "SAFARICOM",
        "accountNumber": "2548034567898",
        "type": "individual",
        "email": "[email protected]"
    }
}