If you’ve shopped in any major retailer in Kenya, you know the variance in Mobile money payments. In large retailers, on the retailer’s side; You are requested to pay to a Cashier specific till umber, in some, one branch utilizes one till number, in some, they request your number and push authorization to transact to your phone. On the User side, the cashier asks for your number, or name for them to authenticate the transaction. In others the transaction auto authenticates itself. This show cases the API Variants in action.
Before integration
As a retail shop there are certain things one is to think about. Before pursuing Botlab to help you with the integration process, perhaps start with finding out if you are eligible and whether you can meet the requirements later.
Below is a checklist on what you need to kick off the process and what is required.
- Paybill or Till number: This is what will be required to integrate your business. If you would like to sign up for one, one can apply online from here, or get assistance from any Safaricom Shop close to you. And who owns the till/store number
- System: This is the system with which we will integrate the Safaricom M-Pesa System to. This can be a POS system for a shop, eatery/restaurant or ERP for a hospital or school
- Internet Access: Both systems communicate in Realtime. For this to happen stable internet access is required
- Domain and SSL: Domain means you need a website address. One can have a website or register a domain for the purpose of initiating this. In addition, its required that one has to have an SSL Certificate appended to the website.
During Integration
Just like any project, the lifecycle of integration depends on whether It’s important to understand the integration scope of the business integration cycle. Who owns the till number/paybill or is it by a merchant/aggregator? What systems do you want to integrate? Do you have an internal tech support or its outsourced? Do you have everything on the checklist or do you need help setting some of these requirements in place? What type of APIs would work in this scenario for your retail.
The Botlab integration process starts when consulting with the team to find out if you are eligible, and what requirements do you meet, and which ones we can acquire for you in readiness.
Integration can be done in 72hrs to 30days. This variance is brought about by the readiness of the client to meet all the requirements by Safaricom to kick off the process and also the details that are required throughout the process between Botlab and Safaricom on the clients behalf.
After integration
We will feature the different Retailers that we have seen utilize M-Pesa Integration for their business.
- In Supermarket- A, they ask for your number and push a request to your phone for you to authorize the transaction and complete the payment process. Other times they offer Cashier specific till number pegged to the counter.
- Supermarket B offer a branch specific till number, and ask for your number to key in the system to complete the transaction.
- Retail shops: Through their shops, once you pay to the till number the transaction authenticates without further information required.
Some of the benefits of integrating as a retailer are;
- Reduction on time at the till: Different variants of the API when combined help reduce the time used by a customer paying for the goods.
- Easy Reconciliation as transactions paid using Mobile money are reconciled in real time.
- Access to “value-ads“ provided by Safaricom such as Web Platform access to monitor transactions, access to paying bills directly from the till among others.
Start your journey towards getting integrated now!
Are you looking to integrate your business? Do you have the requirements in place? Reach out to us and we will get your business integrated at a fee. We offer support throughout the entire integration process and even after the process is done depending on the package chosen.
BY: Mercy Njue & Faith Mwanyolo