{
  "id": "paystack",
  "name": "Paystack",
  "aliases": ["Paystack Payments", "Paystack Checkout"],
  "homepage": "https://paystack.com",
  "docs_url": "https://paystack.com/docs/api",
  "category": "african-aggregator",
  "regions": ["Pan-African"],
  "countries": ["NG", "GH", "ZA", "KE", "CI"],
  "currencies": ["NGN", "GHS", "ZAR", "KES", "USD"],
  "methods": ["card", "bank_transfer", "ussd", "mobile_money", "bank", "qr", "eft"],
  "auth": {
    "model": "bearer-secret-key",
    "key_types": ["sk_test_", "sk_live_", "pk_test_", "pk_live_"],
    "sandbox_instant": true,
    "kyc_required_for_live": true
  },
  "initiate": {
    "flow": "redirect",
    "endpoint": "POST https://api.paystack.co/transaction/initialize",
    "http_method": "POST",
    "required_params": ["email", "amount"],
    "returns": ["authorization_url", "access_code", "reference"],
    "amount_unit": "minor-subunit"
  },
  "status": {
    "mechanisms": ["webhook", "poll", "redirect-return"],
    "webhook_verification": "Header 'x-paystack-signature'; HMAC-SHA512 of the RAW request body using the merchant SECRET KEY (sk_); no separate webhook secret; RAW bytes required; ack 200 fast (Paystack retries up to 72h)",
    "raw_status_values": ["success", "failed", "abandoned", "pending", "ongoing", "processing", "queued", "reversed", "charge.success", "refund.processed", "refund.pending", "refund.failed", "dispute.create", "dispute.created"],
    "status_map": {
      "success": "paid",
      "charge.success": "paid",
      "failed": "failed",
      "abandoned": "failed",
      "refund.failed": "failed",
      "pending": "pending",
      "ongoing": "pending",
      "processing": "pending",
      "queued": "pending",
      "refund.pending": "pending",
      "reversed": "refunded",
      "refund.processed": "refunded",
      "dispute.create": "disputed",
      "dispute.created": "disputed"
    }
  },
  "capabilities": {
    "redirect": true,
    "poll": true,
    "webhook": true,
    "mobile_push": false,
    "refund": true,
    "recurring": true
  },
  "credentials_required": [
    { "key": "secretKey", "label": "Secret Key (sk_)", "secret": true, "note": "server-side auth for all API calls AND the HMAC key used to verify webhooks" },
    { "key": "publicKey", "label": "Public Key (pk_)", "secret": false, "note": "optional — only for Paystack Inline / Popup on the client; not needed for server-side redirect flow" }
  ],
  "sandbox": {
    "test_credentials": { "note": "Instant test keys on signup from dashboard → Settings → API Keys & Webhooks, no KYC. KYC only required to activate live mode." },
    "test_cards": [
      { "number": "4084084084084081", "cvv": "408", "result": "success" },
      { "number": "4084080000005408", "cvv": "001", "result": "decline" },
      { "number": "5060666666666666666", "pin": "1234", "otp": "123456", "result": "success (Verve, PIN+OTP)" }
    ],
    "notes": "Test mode only accepts Paystack test cards — real cards are declined in test mode. Test bank: Zenith account 0000000000, OTP 123456. Base URL is the same host (api.paystack.co) for test and live; the sk_test_/sk_live_ key prefix selects the mode."
  },
  "pain_points": [
    { "problem": "100x over/undercharge", "cause": "amount must be sent in SUBUNITS (kobo/pesewas/cents) but merchants send major units — NGN 100 sent as 100 instead of 10000", "mitigation": "Expose major units in the ManishaPay API and multiply by 100 to an integer internally; validate the result is a positive integer; never trust the caller to pre-format", "severity": "critical", "source": "https://paystack.com/docs/payments/accept-payments" },
    { "problem": "Marking an unpaid transaction as paid", "cause": "the top-level 'status:true' in a verify response only means the API call succeeded — the real payment outcome is data.status", "mitigation": "Key the normalizer ONLY on data.status (must equal 'success'); additionally re-check data.amount and data.currency against the order before fulfilling", "severity": "critical", "source": "https://paystack.com/docs/payments/verify-payments" },
    { "problem": "Webhook signature verification fails", "cause": "HMAC is computed over a re-serialised JSON body instead of the raw bytes, or the wrong key is used", "mitigation": "Compute HMAC-SHA512 over the RAW request buffer (before any JSON parser) using the merchant SECRET KEY, and compare against the x-paystack-signature header with a constant-time compare", "severity": "critical", "source": "https://paystack.com/docs/payments/webhooks" },
    { "problem": "Missed webhooks on localhost / slow endpoint / CSRF-protected route", "cause": "Paystack cannot reach a local dev URL, times out on a slow handler, or the framework's CSRF filter blocks the POST", "mitigation": "Acknowledge with 200 synchronously and do the work asynchronously; exempt the webhook route from CSRF; make side-effects idempotent on the reference; use verify-poll as a backstop", "severity": "high", "source": "https://paystack.com/docs/payments/webhooks" },
    { "problem": "Redirect return beats the webhook (race) — or vice versa", "cause": "the customer's browser redirect (callback_url) and the async webhook are not ordered", "mitigation": "Treat the webhook as primary and verify-poll as a backstop; dedupe both on the unique reference with a monotonic state machine; never gate fulfillment on the browser redirect alone", "severity": "high", "source": "https://paystack.com/docs/payments/verify-payments" },
    { "problem": "Currency not enabled on the account", "cause": "initializing in a currency the merchant has not activated (e.g. USD/GHS/ZAR/KES) returns a 4xx", "mitigation": "Validate the requested currency against the merchant's enabled currencies and surface a clear resolution message", "severity": "medium", "source": "https://paystack.com/docs/payments/multicurrency" },
    { "problem": "Duplicate or reused reference", "cause": "reusing a reference across attempts collides — Paystack requires it to be unique", "mitigation": "Generate a unique reference per attempt and map it to the ManishaPay transaction id; use it as the idempotency key across initiate/verify/webhook", "severity": "medium", "source": "https://paystack.com/docs/payments/accept-payments" },
    { "problem": "Failed recurring charge is not retried", "cause": "Paystack does not automatically retry a failed subscription/charge_authorization", "mitigation": "Implement your own retry/dunning schedule around charge_authorization; monitor invoice.payment_failed events", "severity": "low", "source": "https://paystack.com/docs/payments/recurring-charges" }
  ],
  "sdks": { "node": "@paystack/paystack-sdk", "php": "yabacon/paystack-php", "rest_direct_ok": true },
  "notes": "Zimbabwe is NOT a supported Paystack merchant country — only NG, GH, ZA, KE and CI can register as merchants. It is a regional (not ZW-local) rail useful for ManishaPay merchants operating in those markets or charging in USD. Recurring is supported via charge_authorization (reuse the authorization_code from a verify response for a no-interaction server-side charge) or plans + subscriptions. Refunds via POST /refund (full, or partial by passing amount in subunits).",
  "sources": [
    "https://paystack.com/docs/api",
    "https://paystack.com/docs/payments/accept-payments",
    "https://paystack.com/docs/payments/verify-payments",
    "https://paystack.com/docs/payments/webhooks",
    "https://paystack.com/docs/payments/refunds",
    "https://paystack.com/docs/payments/multicurrency"
  ],
  "verification": {
    "verified": true,
    "unverified_fields": ["exact set of enabled currencies varies per merchant account", "full list of raw refund/dispute status strings"],
    "last_updated": "2026-07-18"
  }
}