Make Payment

POST

Creates and processes a transaction for a specific payment method in one call. This is the core request in the seamless flow — your UI collects the method’s required fields and submits them directly, without redirecting to a Pesepay-hosted page.

Environment	URL
Production	https://api.pesepay.com/api/payments-engine/v2/payments/make-payment
Sandbox	https://api.test.sandbox.pesepay.com/payments-engine/v2/payments/make-payment

How it fits

1. Pick a payment method and its required fields.
2. Build and encrypt the request body.
3. POST it with your integration key in the authorization header.
4. Decrypt the response, store the referenceNumber, and wait for the result callback or poll pollUrl — the customer still has to approve the payment on their side.

Headers

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
authorization	string	Yes	Your application’s integration key
content-type	string	Yes	Must be application/json

Request body

Field	Type	Required	Description
amountDetails	object	Yes	{ amount: number, currencyCode: string }
paymentMethodCode	string	Yes	e.g. PZW211 for EcoCash, PZW212 for InnBucks — see Payment Method Codes
paymentMethodRequiredFields	object	Yes	The chosen method’s required fields as key/value pairs. Send {} for methods that need none (InnBucks, PayGo). Keys come from the method’s Payment Methods page or from Get Payment Methods by Currency
reasonForPayment	string	Yes	A short summary of the transaction
resultUrl	string	Yes	Where Pesepay posts the final result — see The Result Callback
returnUrl	string	No	Where the customer is sent after the payment. Defaults to resultUrl if omitted
merchantReference	string	No	Your own order/invoice reference, echoed back on the transaction
customer	object	No	{ email, phoneNumber, name }
paymentMetadata	object	No	String key/value pairs carried on the transaction and returned as transactionMetadata on the result. Required on an application with split payments, which must carry beneficiaryMerchantEmail

Plaintext request body — EcoCash example (before encryption)

{
  "amountDetails": {
    "amount": 10.00,
    "currencyCode": "USD"
  },
  "merchantReference": "ORDER-1042",
  "reasonForPayment": "Order #1042 — running shoes",
  "resultUrl": "https://example.com/payments/result",
  "returnUrl": "https://example.com/payments/return",
  "paymentMethodCode": "PZW211",
  "customer": {
    "email": "customer@example.com",
    "phoneNumber": "0777777777",
    "name": "Jane Customer"
  },
  "paymentMethodRequiredFields": {
    "customerPhoneNumber": "0777777777"
  }
}

Tip

For InnBucks (PZW212), send paymentMethodRequiredFields as an empty object — it requires no extra fields. See InnBucks and EcoCash for the field requirements of each.

Code examples

cURL

# Encrypt your JSON body first (see the Encryption Guide), then:
curl -X POST https://api.test.sandbox.pesepay.com/payments-engine/v2/payments/make-payment \
  -H "authorization: YOUR_INTEGRATION_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -d '{"payload": "ENCRYPTED_BASE64_STRING"}'

Node.js

const body = {
  amountDetails: { amount: 10.0, currencyCode: 'USD' },
  merchantReference: 'ORDER-1042',
  reasonForPayment: 'Order #1042 — running shoes',
  resultUrl: 'https://example.com/payments/result',
  returnUrl: 'https://example.com/payments/return',
  paymentMethodCode: 'PZW211',
  customer: {
    email: 'customer@example.com',
    phoneNumber: '0777777777',
    name: 'Jane Customer',
  },
  paymentMethodRequiredFields: { customerPhoneNumber: '0777777777' },
};

const response = await fetch(
  'https://api.test.sandbox.pesepay.com/payments-engine/v2/payments/make-payment',
  {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      authorization: 'YOUR_INTEGRATION_KEY',
      'content-type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ payload: encrypt(body, ENCRYPTION_KEY) }),
  }
);

const { payload } = await response.json();
const transaction = decrypt(payload, ENCRYPTION_KEY);

Python

import requests

body = {
    "amountDetails": {"amount": 10.00, "currencyCode": "USD"},
    "merchantReference": "ORDER-1042",
    "reasonForPayment": "Order #1042 — running shoes",
    "resultUrl": "https://example.com/payments/result",
    "returnUrl": "https://example.com/payments/return",
    "paymentMethodCode": "PZW211",
    "customer": {
        "email": "customer@example.com",
        "phoneNumber": "0777777777",
        "name": "Jane Customer",
    },
    "paymentMethodRequiredFields": {"customerPhoneNumber": "0777777777"},
}

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.test.sandbox.pesepay.com/payments-engine/v2/payments/make-payment",
    json={"payload": encrypt(body, ENCRYPTION_KEY)},
    headers={
        "authorization": "YOUR_INTEGRATION_KEY",
        "content-type": "application/json",
    },
)

transaction = decrypt(response.json()["payload"], ENCRYPTION_KEY)

PHP

<?php
$body = [
    'amountDetails' => ['amount' => 10.00, 'currencyCode' => 'USD'],
    'merchantReference' => 'ORDER-1042',
    'reasonForPayment' => 'Order #1042 — running shoes',
    'resultUrl' => 'https://example.com/payments/result',
    'returnUrl' => 'https://example.com/payments/return',
    'paymentMethodCode' => 'PZW211',
    'customer' => [
        'email' => 'customer@example.com',
        'phoneNumber' => '0777777777',
        'name' => 'Jane Customer',
    ],
    'paymentMethodRequiredFields' => ['customerPhoneNumber' => '0777777777'],
];

$ch = curl_init('https://api.test.sandbox.pesepay.com/payments-engine/v2/payments/make-payment');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode([
    'payload' => encrypt($body, $encryptionKey),
]));
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, [
    'authorization: YOUR_INTEGRATION_KEY',
    'content-type: application/json',
]);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);

$response = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
curl_close($ch);

$transaction = decrypt($response['payload'], $encryptionKey);

Java

String bodyJson = """
    {"amountDetails":{"amount":10.00,"currencyCode":"USD"},
     "merchantReference":"ORDER-1042",
     "reasonForPayment":"Order #1042 — running shoes",
     "resultUrl":"https://example.com/payments/result",
     "returnUrl":"https://example.com/payments/return",
     "paymentMethodCode":"PZW211",
     "customer":{"email":"customer@example.com","phoneNumber":"0777777777","name":"Jane Customer"},
     "paymentMethodRequiredFields":{"customerPhoneNumber":"0777777777"}}""";

String encryptedPayload = encrypt(bodyJson, encryptionKey);

HttpClient client = HttpClient.newHttpClient();
HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
    .uri(URI.create("https://api.test.sandbox.pesepay.com/payments-engine/v2/payments/make-payment"))
    .header("authorization", "YOUR_INTEGRATION_KEY")
    .header("content-type", "application/json")
    .POST(HttpRequest.BodyPublishers.ofString(
        "{\"payload\":\"" + encryptedPayload + "\"}"
    ))
    .build();

HttpResponse<String> response = client.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
String transactionJson = decrypt(extractPayload(response.body()), encryptionKey);

Response

Decrypt the payload to get the transaction result. It is the same object you get from Check Payment Status and in the result callback — the result callback page has the complete field list and the amountDetails breakdown. There is no redirectUrl on it.

Field	Type	Description
referenceNumber	string	Store this — used to track status and match result callbacks
pollUrl	string	A ready-made Check Payment Status URL for this transaction
transactionStatus	string	See Transaction statuses
transactionStatusCode	number	Numeric equivalent of transactionStatus
transactionStatusDescription	string	Human-readable description of the status
amountDetails	object	Amounts and fees applied to the transaction
transactionMetadata	object	String key/value pairs carried on the transaction

Caution

A 200 here does not mean you have been paid. Most methods are still awaiting the customer at this point — the status will be non-terminal. Wait for the result callback or poll pollUrl until the status is terminal, and only treat SUCCESS as paid.