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Mobile Money Transfer

Learn how to transfer money directly from your available balance to a mobile money account.

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Getting Started

We recommend checking out the introductory section to understand the basics of making transfers first.

Mobile money transfers work the same as regular bank account transfers. The key difference is that the account_number is the mobile number on the account (including the country code, like "233"), while the account_bank is a code representing the mobile money operator (for example, "MPS" for M-Pesa). A beneficiary_name is also required so we can identify this account in your list of beneficiaries.

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Kenya (M-PESA)

Mobile Money Kenya (M-Pesa) requires you to include the sender's full name as sender, the sender's country as sender_country and the sender's mobile number as mobile_number in the meta object. See Initiate a Transfer for specification


Supported Networks

Here's a list of the currently supported countries and available networks for mobile money:

Countries/CurrenciesMobile Money options
Cameroon (XAF)MTN, ORANGEMONEY
Cote d'Ivoire (XOF)MOOV, MTN, ORANGE, WAVE
Ethiopia (ETB)AMOLEMONEY
Ghana (GHS)AIRTELTIGO, MTN, VODAFONE
Kenya (KES)M-Pesa (MPS)
Rwanda (RWF)AIRTEL, MTN
Senegal (XOF)ORANGEMONEY, WAVE
Tanzania (TZS)AIRTEL, HALOPESA, TIGO, VODACOM
Uganda (UGX)AIRTEL, MTN
Zambia (ZMW)MPS

Here's an example of a mobile money transfer:

const details = {
  account_bank: "MPS",
  account_number: "2540782773934",
  amount: 1200,
  currency: "KES",
  beneficiary_name: "Akinyi Kimwei",
  meta: {
    "sender": "Flutterwave Developers",
    "sender_country": "ZA",
    "mobile_number": "23457558595"
  }
};
await flw.Transfer.initiate(details)

 

$details = array(
  "account_bank" => "MPS",
  "account_number" => "2540782773934",
  "amount" => 1200,
  "currency" => "KES",
  "beneficiary_name" => "Akinyi Kimwei",
  "meta" => array(
    "sender": "Flutterwave Developers",
    "sender_country": "ZA",
    "mobile_number": "23457558595"
  )
);
$response = $transferService->singleTransfer($details);

details = {
  account_bank: "MPS",
  account_number: "2540782773934",
  amount: 1200,
  currency: "KES",
  beneficiary_name: "Akinyi Kimwei",
  meta: {
    "sender": "Flutterwave Developers",
    "sender_country": "ZA",
    "mobile_number": "23457558595"
  }
}
response = transfer.initiate_transfer details

details = {
  "account_bank": "MPS",
  "account_number": "2540782773934",
  "amount": 1200,
  "currency": "KES",
  "beneficiary_name": "Akinyi Kimwei",
  "meta": {
    "sender": "Flutterwave Developers",
    "sender_country": "ZA",
    "mobile_number": "23457558595"
  }
}
res = rave.Transfer.initate(details)

details := rave.SinglePaymentData {
    AccountBank:     "flutterwave",
    AccountNumber:   "00118468",
    Amount:          1200,
    Currency:        "KES",
    BeneficiaryName: "Akinyi Kimwei"
}
err, response := transfer.InitiateSingleTransfer(details)

curl --request POST 'https://api.flutterwave.com/v3/transfers' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_SECRET_KEY' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
    account_bank: "MPS",
    account_number: "2540782773934",
    amount: 1200,
    currency: "KES",
    beneficiary_name: "Akinyi Kimwei",
    meta: {
      "sender": "Flutterwave Developers",
      "sender_country": "ZA",
      "mobile_number": "23457558595"
    }
}'

Here's an example of the response you'll get:

{
    "status": "success",
    "message": "Transfer Queued Successfully",
    "data": {
        "id": 127886,
        "account_number": "2540782773934",
        "bank_code": "MPS",
        "full_name": "Flutterwave Developers",
        "created_at": "2020-06-25T14:03:51.000Z",
        "currency": "KES",
        "amount": 50,
        "fee": 45,
        "status": "NEW",
        "reference": "mk-902837-jk",
        "meta": null,
        "narration": "New transfer",
        "complete_message": "",
        "requires_approval": 0,
        "is_approved": 1,
        "bank_name": "FA-BANK"
    }
}

{
    "status": "success",
    "message": "Transfer Queued Successfully",
    "data": {
        "id": 127890,
        "account_number": "250780411008",
        "bank_code": "FMM",
        "full_name": "Flutterwave Developers",
        "created_at": "2020-06-25T14:11:45.000Z",
        "currency": "XAF",
        "amount": 50,
        "fee": 500,
        "status": "NEW",
        "reference": "new-franco-momo-test-transfer",
        "meta": null,
        "narration": "New franco transfer",
        "complete_message": "",
        "requires_approval": 0,
        "is_approved": 1,
        "bank_name": "FA-BANK"
    }
}

{
    "status": "success",
    "message": "Transfer Queued Successfully",
    "data": {
        "id": 217647,
        "account_number": "2217857532",
        "bank_code": "FREEMONEY",
        "full_name": "Taju Afobaje",
        "created_at": "2023-06-23T12:32:32.000Z",
        "currency": "XOF",
        "debit_currency": "XOF",
        "amount": 100,
        "fee": 2,
        "status": "NEW",
        "reference": "TRF-21928319023-231202",
        "meta": [
            {
                "Sender": "Agba Tester",
                "SenderCountry": "NG",
                "SenderAddress": "Lagos",
                "SenderMobileNumber": "+2348100001201"
            }
        ],
        "narration": "MoMo Transfer to Senegal",
        "complete_message": "",
        "requires_approval": 0,
        "is_approved": 1,
        "bank_name": "FA-BANK"
    }
}

{
    "status": "success",
    "message": "Transfer Queued Successfully",
    "data": {
        "id": 127889,
        "account_number": "233542773934",
        "bank_code": "MTN",
        "full_name": "Flutterwave Developers",
        "created_at": "2020-06-25T14:09:42.000Z",
        "currency": "RWF",
        "amount": 50,
        "fee": 45,
        "status": "NEW",
        "reference": "new-rwf-momo-transfer",
        "meta": null,
        "narration": "New RWF momo transfer",
        "complete_message": "",
        "requires_approval": 0,
        "is_approved": 1,
        "bank_name": "FA-BANK"
    }
}

{
    "status": "success",
    "message": "Transfer Queued Successfully",
    "data": {
        "id": 127894,
        "account_number": "233542773934",
        "bank_code": "MPS",
        "full_name": "Flutterwave Developers",
        "created_at": "2020-06-25T14:39:16.000Z",
        "currency": "UGX",
        "amount": 50,
        "fee": 500,
        "status": "NEW",
        "reference": "ugx-momo-transfer",
        "meta": null,
        "narration": "UGX momo transfer",
        "complete_message": "",
        "requires_approval": 0,
        "is_approved": 1,
        "bank_name": "FA-BANK"
    }
}

{
    "status": "success",
    "message": "Transfer Queued Successfully",
    "data": {
        "id": 222401,
        "account_number": "26586644477755",
        "bank_code": "AIRTELMW",
        "full_name": "Dora Explorer",
        "created_at": "2024-02-06T16:27:14.000Z",
        "currency": "MWK",
        "debit_currency": "NGN",
        "amount": 100000,
        "fee": 350003.5,
        "status": "NEW",
        "reference": "9dc2de49014ad188",
        "meta": null,
        "narration": "ecobank mw test",
        "complete_message": "",
        "requires_approval": 0,
        "is_approved": 1,
        "bank_name": "Airtel Malawi"
    }
}

{
    "status": "success",
    "message": "Transfer Queued Successfully",
    "data": {
        "id": 8773850,
        "account_number": "250780411008",
        "bank_code": "MPS",
        "full_name": "Flutterwave Developers",
        "created_at": "2021-05-14T16:01:31.000Z",
        "currency": "ZMW",
        "amount": 50,
        "fee": 1.5,
        "status": "NEW",
        "reference": "new-ZMW-momo-test-transfer",
        "meta": null,
        "narration": "New ZMW transfer",
        "complete_message": "",
        "requires_approval": 0,
        "is_approved": 1,
        "bank_name": "Mobile Money"
    }
}

{}

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Supported Format

To make a successful M-Pesa(KES), XAF, or XOF transfer request, Pass amount and account_number in the following formats:

  • We only support integers for amount.
  • account_number is expected to take these forms: 254700000000 or 0700000000.

You'll notice that the data.status for the transfer is "NEW". Remember to set up a webhook or call the get transfer endpoint to find out when the transfer is completed. See Transfers: Overview for more details.

Bulk Transfers

You can also transfer to multiple mobile money accounts at once. See the bulk transfers guide for details.

Updated about 1 month ago