Pesapal

Pesapal is an East African payment gateway that takes cards and mobile money (M-Pesa, Airtel Money and more) in one checkout. You connect your own Pesapal account, so payments settle directly to you, not to PaidFast. Pesapal checkout is part of the Starter plan.

#Before you start

• A verified Pesapal merchant account. Sign up at pesapal.com and complete their business verification.
• Your Consumer Key and Consumer Secret. In your Pesapal Business account (business.pesapal.com) open Account Settings → Developer Settings → API settings. Pesapal issues live keys only; there's no separate test (sandbox) mode for merchants.
• Invoices in a currency Pesapal accepts: KES, UGX, TZS or USD.

If Pesapal doesn't appear in your payment settings, it hasn't been switched on for your workspace yet. Contact PaidFast support.

#Connect your account

1. Open Settings → Payments and select Pesapal.
2. Turn on Enable Pesapal checkout links. Until you connect, the row shows Not connected and customers aren't offered Pesapal.
3. Paste your Consumer Key and Consumer Secret and click Connect Pesapal.

PaidFast checks the keys with Pesapal and registers the payment notification (IPN) address for you. You don't need to change Pesapal's Instant Payment Notification Settings tab. Once connected, the row shows On and Pesapal appears on your customers' payment links.

Tip: After connecting, pay a small invoice yourself (for example KES 10). The Pesapal settings then show the last payment received, so you know money is flowing.

If Pesapal gives you new keys, paste them and click Reconnect Pesapal. Your secret is kept, so you only paste it again if it changed. Disconnect removes your keys and stops offering Pesapal straight away.

#How customers pay

1. You send an invoice with its payment link.
2. The customer chooses Pesapal and is taken to Pesapal's secure checkout, where they pay by card or mobile money.
3. They return to the payment page. PaidFast confirms the payment with Pesapal, marks the invoice Paid and sends the receipt. The receipt shows the method used, for example Pesapal · Visa.

If the customer comes back before Pesapal has finished, the page says the payment is processing and checks again automatically. They can also tap Check Pesapal payment.

#How PaidFast keeps payments safe

• Every payment is confirmed directly with Pesapal, never taken from the browser, so a faked return can't mark an invoice paid.
• Amount and currency are checked. If Pesapal reports less than the invoice payment, or a different currency, the payment is held for review instead of being recorded. You'll see Pesapal payment held for review in your notifications. Check the transaction in your Pesapal dashboard, then record what you actually received as a manual payment. The notification clears once the invoice is paid.
• Reversals reopen the invoice. If Pesapal reverses a payment (for example a chargeback), PaidFast takes it off the invoice so the balance is owed again, and notifies you.
• Unfinished checkouts expire after 24 hours so they stop showing as pending. If Pesapal confirms one later, it's still recorded.

#Troubleshooting

• "Pesapal rejected these keys": copy the Consumer Key and Secret again from Developer Settings → API settings using Pesapal's copy buttons. Hidden spaces from manual copying are a common cause.
• Customers don't see Pesapal: make sure the row shows On, not Not connected, and that the invoice currency is KES, UGX, TZS or USD.
• A payment isn't showing: it usually appears within a minute. The payment page checks automatically. If it's held for review, see your notifications.