Developer Documentation

Connect your platform to Lipachap for mobile money payments, disbursements, and real-time notifications across East Africa.

Make your first payment

Collect mobile money from a customer MSISDN. Sign every request with GATEWAY authentication, then POST to the cashin endpoint.

1. Sign the request

Authentication
const crypto = require("crypto");

// digest = sha256(apiSecret + requestPath + rawRequestBody)
const digest = crypto.createHash("sha256")
  .update(apiSecret + "/api/v1/gateway/payments/cashin" + rawBody)
  .digest("hex");

// token = base64(apiKey + ":" + digest)
const authorization = "GATEWAY " + Buffer.from(`${apiKey}:${digest}`).toString("base64");

2. Collect payment (CASHIN)

cURL
curl -X POST https://sandbox.api.lipachap.com/api/v1/gateway/payments/cashin \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: GATEWAY <base64_token>" \
  -d '{
    "transid": "ORDER-12345",
    "amount": 10000,
    "msisdn": "255712345678",
    "utilityref": "INVOICE-001"
  }'

3. Handle the response

Response
{
  "resultcode": "000",
  "result": "SUCCESS",
  "message": "Transaction queued",
  "reference": "LC-ABC123",
  "transid": "ORDER-12345",
  "status": "PENDING"
}

Poll POST /api/v1/gateway/payments/status or set up webhooks for real-time updates.

Features

Mobile Money Payments

Accept payments from M-Pesa, Airtel Money, Tigo Pesa, and other networks across Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.

Disbursements

Send money to any mobile money wallet with automated fee calculations.

Split Payments

Automatically split payments between multiple parties with flexible rules and real-time processing.

Bill Payments

Enable customers to pay utility bills, subscriptions, and services directly through mobile money.

Environments

EnvironmentBase URLKeys
Sandboxhttps://sandbox.api.lipachap.comTEST keys from signup
Productionhttps://api.lipachap.comLIVE keys (requires approval)

Note: TEST keys only work on the sandbox host; LIVE keys only work on the production host.

Next Steps