Paystack is a leading payment gateway that provides seamless and secure payment solutions for businesses across several African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa. It also offers a private beta program in Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, and Rwanda. By integrating Paystack with your platform, you can give your African users a reliable way to pay for subscriptions using credit and debit cards, bank accounts, transfers, USSD, and Visa QR.
This guide walks you through obtaining the necessary credentials, configuring the Webhook URL, and setting up the required events for a smooth integration process.
Please note that Paystack does not require business credentials during signup, but you will need to register your business once your sales exceed NGN 2,000,000.00 (approximately USD 1,290.60).
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Go to the Payment Settings of your platform. Open your platform. Sign in with your admin credentials. Click on the Settings icon at the bottom of the left sidebar. Then, select Payment Configuration.
Scroll down to the Paystack section. You’ll notice you need a Public Key and a Secret Key. You need to obtain them from Paystack. Let’s see how.
Sign up on Paystack. Go to paystack.com and click on the Create a free account button.
Fill your business information. You can use your personal phone number and email address here.
In type of business, select Starter if you have not yet registered your business legally. If you own the pertinent documents already, then you can select Registered Business. Tick the consent box and click on Create My Account to continue.
Now, add your platform as a new business. This is necessary because on Paystack, you can connect several businesses on a single account. To do this, click on your profile picture at the top right corner, and on the menu, select Add a Business.
On the modal form, select Create a New Business. Once again, fill your business information and indicate if you are a Starter or a Registered Business (if you have the documentation ready). Then, click on Create.
Select your business. You will now see your business on the top left corner. Click on it. Notice that it is in Tester Mode, which means you can’t receive payments yet.
To go Live, you need to complete all the details about your business on the Compliance section. This includes Trading name, Description, staff size and type of business, as well as contact information and your personal information as the owner (make sure you have ready a document like passport or driver’s license available to verify your identity, as well as one to confirm your address). Note that if you previously indicated that you have a Starter Business, you will be able to receive up to NGN $2,000,000.00 (USD $1,290.60) before having to upload legal documentation for the business.
When you are done, go Live. Turn on the switch on the right upper corner.
Obtain the Secret and Public Keys. Go to Settings > API Keys and Webhooks. You will fin them under the API Configuration section. Make sure you are taking the Live -Mode keys, not the testing ones.
Paste the Keys on your application. Place them on the corresponding fields.
Configure the webhooks. Paste the Webhook URL provided on your app (On the blue box below the Public and Secret Key fields). Go back to Paystack and paste it on the Live Callback URL and Live Webhook URL fields. Save the changes.
Enable Paystack. Back on your platform, make sure to Enable the Recurring payment status, and optionally, the One-time payment status for Paystack. Then, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the Save button to apply your changes.
Paystack is now available! Your customers will now be able to select it as a payment method.
If you have additional doubts, you can always contact us. We will be glad to help.
