ISPbills Adds Africa Support: M-Pesa STK Push & TextSMS Integration
ISPbills now supports two Africa-region integrations out of the box: M-Pesavia Safaricom's Daraja STK Push API for customer payments, and TextSMS (textsms.co.ke) for automated SMS notifications. ISPs operating in Kenya and across East Africa can now accept M-Pesa bill payments directly from customers' phones — without any custom development.
Why Africa — and Why Now
Mobile money is the dominant payment rail in East Africa. Kenya alone processes more than 60 million M-Pesa transactions every day through Safaricom's network. For an ISP billing platform to be genuinely useful in this region, it must speak M-Pesa natively — not as an afterthought or a manual workaround, but as a first-class payment gateway with automated verification and instant account activation.
ISPbills already covers South Asia comprehensively — 18 Bangladesh SMS providers, mobile wallets in Nepal, Pakistan enterprise SMS, international gateways. Adding Africa brings the total to 6 regions and makes ISPbills the most broadly covered ISP billing platform for emerging markets.
M-Pesa STK Push: Payments Without the Browser Redirect
Unlike card-based gateways that redirect customers to a separate checkout page, M-Pesa uses an STK Push(SIM Toolkit) model: the customer's phone receives a payment prompt directly, they enter their PIN, and the transaction is confirmed instantly. No browser redirect, no typing card numbers, no checkout abandonment.
How the Flow Works
- 1Customer opens their bill on the ISPbills customer portal and clicks Pay Now.
- 2They confirm (or enter) their M-Pesa registered phone number.
- 3ISPbills calls the Safaricom Daraja STK Push API — the customer's handset receives a payment prompt within seconds.
- 4The customer enters their M-Pesa PIN. The portal polls the transaction status automatically every 5 seconds.
- 5Once Safaricom confirms payment, the customer's account is activated and a confirmation message is displayed. No manual operator step required.
The integration uses the Safaricom Daraja API v1 with OAuth2 token-based authentication. Tokens are cached server-side to avoid unnecessary round-trips. Safaricom also sends a server-to-server callback when a payment completes or fails — ISPbills handles this callback independently of the browser session, so the payment is credited even if the customer navigates away before the result is shown.
Setting Up M-Pesa in ISPbills
You need a Safaricom Daraja Paybill or Till account with API access. Register at developer.safaricom.co.ke to obtain your credentials.
| ISPbills Field | Daraja Credential |
|---|---|
| Consumer Key | App Consumer Key from Daraja portal |
| Consumer Secret | App Consumer Secret from Daraja portal |
| Business Shortcode | Your Paybill number or Buy Goods (Till) number |
| Passkey | Lipa na M-Pesa Online Passkey (from Daraja) |
Use Sandbox environment while testing. Switch to Production for live payments.
TextSMS: SMS Notifications for Kenyan ISPs
TextSMS(textsms.co.ke) is Kenya's leading bulk SMS platform, used by thousands of businesses for transactional and marketing messaging. ISPbills now integrates with TextSMS's API, enabling automated SMS notifications for:
- ✓Bill generation and due-date reminders
- ✓Payment received confirmations
- ✓Account expiry and suspension alerts
- ✓Automated package activation notifications
- ✓Custom broadcast messages to groups of customers
TextSMS Credentials
| ISPbills Field | TextSMS Value |
|---|---|
| Username (Partner ID) | Your TextSMS Partner ID |
| Password (API Key) | Your TextSMS API Key |
| From Number (Shortcode) | Your approved SMS Shortcode / Sender ID |
ISPbills Gateway Coverage: 6 Regions, 21+ Payment Gateways, 31 SMS Providers
With Africa added, ISPbills now covers six regions with native payment and SMS integrations:
All gateways are available immediately — no custom development, no workarounds. Configure your credentials in Settings → Payment Gateways (for M-Pesa) or Settings → SMS Gateway (for TextSMS) and go live the same day.
Getting Started
Enable M-Pesa
- 1. Register for a Safaricom Daraja account at developer.safaricom.co.ke.
- 2. Create an app and note your Consumer Key, Consumer Secret, and Passkey.
- 3. In ISPbills, go to Settings → Payment Gateways → Add Gateway.
- 4. Select M-Pesa (Safaricom) and enter your credentials.
- 5. Set environment to Sandbox, test a payment, then switch to Production.
Enable TextSMS
- 1. Sign up at textsms.co.ke and obtain your Partner ID and API Key.
- 2. In ISPbills, go to Settings → SMS Gateway → Add Gateway.
- 3. Select TextSMS (under Africa region) and enter your credentials.
- 4. Send a test SMS to verify the configuration.
Ready to Transform Your ISP Business?
Join hundreds of ISPs across Bangladesh and South Asia who trust ISPbills to manage their operations. Start your free trial today — no credit card required.