Collect API — Request Payments Directly Within Your Application.

Over the past 8 years, Paga has built deep payments infrastructure in Nigeria and we have opened that up to all developers to leverage (available at Paga.dev).

Paga is committed to enabling the innovation of others and spurring the growth of the internet economy.

About a month ago we announced the launch of Paga’s Persistent Payment Account API, which allows any app developer to give their customers dedicated account numbers. These accounts can then be funded by transfers from any bank or mobile money operator.

In speaking with the developer community about the Persistent Payment Account API we heard clearly a request for four things:

1. A need to request payments via an API that gave the customer several options to pay and for real-time notification upon payment.
2. A need for seamless P2P payments — so many developers are building solutions that can leverage payments between two parties without forcing either payer or payee to use a specific platform.
3. Developers want to stay within their own applications and have control over the user experience vs using the gateway’s UI.
4. Trust was important — customers might be wary of entering their bank usernames or passwords into non-regulated third-party applications.

Based on the clear feedback, we are now announcing the Paga Collect API.

Initiate a payment request from your customers and automatically get notified when the payment request is fulfilled.

The beauty of the Collect API is that you can choose to have the payment instantly sent to a bank or mobile money account thus enabling true P2P without any customer giving out their bank login details.

Why is the Collect API useful?

Using your own application, you can request payments and provide your customer many ways to pay. Payments can be made by bank transfers, mobile money transfers, card payments, USSD transfers, QR codes, and payment links to make the payment later.

As a developer, you have the power to choose how you display these options to your customer.

As an example, if your customer uses GT Bank you can show them the *737# string to dial directly on their phone to instantly pay for the transaction.

Or display a QR code for customers to scan and pay via their bank or mobile money app.

You no longer need to provide your own company or personal bank account to customers.

Instant Notification upon Payment

Rest easy, we notify you when payment has been made and you can then trigger other business processes and eliminate all those reconciliation issues.

The Collect API enables P2P!

If your goal is to enable P2P transactions, look no further. With the Collect API, your application can enable one person to pay another person directly. With instant notifications, your application gets notified of the transaction. Neither person needs to have a Paga account.

Do my Customers Need Paga Accounts?

No. Your customers do not need a Paga account. The payer can pay from any bank or mobile money account, use their card, pay via QR from their bank app, or even pay offline at agents.

The Collect API is built leveraging the deep payments infrastructure Paga already has in place…

We have built the Collect API on infrastructure we already use in our applications at Paga:

• Bank Transfers: Paga is connected to all Banks in Nigeria to send and receive instant transfers. We are also connected to the top 7 Banks directly. We’ve built significant redundancy in our bank transfers.
• Card Payments: Paga’s gateway — Paga Checkout — gives users the ability to collect payments via Cards. We recently bolstered our capability in cards by connecting directly to Visa Cybersource.
• USSD Payments: Paga is connected to offer payment collection via any Bank’s own USSD. A GT Bank Customer can pay into someone’s Paga account directly from *737# as an example.
• QR Payments: While still early days in the Nigerian market, we are long on QR payments and this is why we have integrated to Visa for EMVCo based QR. This means any Paga customer can use our QR and collect payments from the app of any bank.
• Offline Payments: Paga’s 27,000 agents means you can now offer book online and pay at agents. We have seen how this approach has driven growth across LATAM.
• Finally, and most importantly Paga’s Payments Request Framework: This is the glue that makes it all possible. We have built a powerful engine that enables requests to be made and upon fulfillment trigger other actions.

Please reach out if you have any questions on the API, our team would be happy to help you get started — email us at business@paga.com. We’d also love to hear about what you are building and help however we can!

I’m excited about the innovation that this API would drive! There are so many use cases our clients have shared with us and it is amazing to think how one API can be used in so many ways — truly driving endless possibilities!