In Uganda, more than 60 percent of online purchases now move through Mobile Money. If your online store only accepts cards, you are leaving most of the market on the table. Here is what you need to know about adding MTN MoMo and Airtel Money checkout to your website.
Option 1, hosted payment pages (easiest)
Services like Pesapal, Flutterwave, and DPO Pay host the checkout form for you. You add their script tag, they handle the rest. Setup takes about a day. Fees are 2 to 3 percent per transaction.
Option 2, direct integration (cheapest)
Both MTN MoMo Open API and Airtel Money for Developers offer free APIs. Direct integration removes the middle-man fees but requires more developer time. Best for high-volume merchants.
Option 3, our turn-key approach
For most clients we use a hybrid: Pesapal for cards and Mobile Money on the front-end, with direct API access for refunds and reconciliation. It is the fastest way to a working checkout that handles the awkward edge cases (timeouts, failed STK pushes, partial payments).
What about USSD
For markets where smartphones are not universal, USSD checkouts are powerful. We have built USSD flows for SACCOs and retail clients that hand off back to a web admin. Ask if this is something you need.