Card processing and merchant accounts for gaming, gambling, crypto, forex, e-commerce and cross-border trade — the verticals most gateways won't touch. Approved worldwide.
Trusted by businesses across Africa
From accepting payments to managing risk and reaching customers, Helopay gives you the tools to run your business end to end.
Integrate once and accept payments through a single, well-documented API — cards, mobile money, and bank transfers across Africa, with sandbox testing and webhooks built in.
Specialized merchant accounts for businesses in regulated or high-risk categories, with tailored underwriting, fraud monitoring, and compliance support to keep you operating.
Accept Visa, Mastercard, and local card schemes with smart routing for higher approval rates, instant authorization, and transparent settlement timelines.
Send transactional alerts, OTPs, and marketing messages at scale through our SMS gateway — integrated directly with your payment notifications.
Everything you need to collect, move and manage money — from a single dashboard, with one API.
Request a DemoYour customers pay however they're comfortable — M-Pesa, MTN MoMo, Airtel Money and 12 more wallets, all through a single integration.
One account, 30+ African markets. No extra licences, no local entities — just flip a switch and start accepting payments in a new country.
Give customers the flexibility to pay with Visa, Mastercard, Verve or regional card schemes — with smart routing that maximises approval rates.
Disburse funds to suppliers, gig workers and customers in real time — no batch delays, no waiting until Monday morning.
Sign up in minutes. Complete our streamlined KYC process and get your API keys — no lengthy paperwork, no waiting weeks.
Get Started
Connect Helopay to your app or website using our REST API, SDKs or no-code plugins. Test everything safely in our sandbox.
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Flip the switch to production and start accepting mobile money, card payments and bank transfers from customers across Africa.
See ProductsHelopay makes collecting, disbursing and settling payments across Africa incredibly simple — giving your team the freedom to build without limits.
From embedding a payment widget with a single script tag, to orchestrating complex payout workflows via REST — our API is designed for speed, reliability and scale.
Over 500 businesses
"Integrating Helopay took our developer two days. We went live with M-Pesa, card and bank transfer in a single checkout. Our sales jumped immediately."
"We collect school fees from parents across 5 counties via mobile money. Helopay's dashboard gives us real-time reconciliation — no more Excel nightmares."
"Disbursing rider earnings used to take our ops team an entire Friday. With Helopay Payouts, it happens automatically at 6pm every day. They love it."
"Our subscription renewals now happen automatically. Card declines are retried intelligently — we recovered 23% of revenue we were previously losing."
"We needed a payment partner who understood Africa. Helopay's support team is responsive, the API docs are excellent, and the uptime is genuinely impressive."
"The payment link feature alone changed everything for our field agents. They share a link via WhatsApp and customers pay instantly — zero friction."
Everything you need to know about Helopay. Can't find the answer you're looking for?
Talk to our teamHelopay is a payment technology company that provides a unified API for businesses to accept and disburse payments across Africa. Connect once and get access to mobile money, card payments, and bank transfers — all through a single integration.
We support M-Pesa, MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money, Visa, Mastercard, and direct bank transfers. Our network covers major mobile money operators and card schemes across East and Central Africa, with more being added regularly.
Helopay currently supports payments in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia. We are actively expanding to more African markets. Contact us if your country is not listed and we'll update you on availability.
Most developers complete a basic integration in 1–3 days using our REST API and SDKs. We provide comprehensive documentation, sandbox environments, and dedicated technical support to make the process as smooth as possible.
A high-risk merchant account is a payment processing account designed for businesses operating in industries with higher chargeback potential, regulatory scrutiny, or average ticket sizes. Industries like gaming, gambling, crypto, forex, and travel fall into this category. Unlike standard processors that reject these businesses outright, Helopay specialises in high-risk verticals — offering multi-MID strategies, rolling reserves tailored to your risk profile, and transparent chargeback management so you can keep processing without fear of sudden account freezes.
Mainstream processors like Stripe, Square, and PayPal decline high-risk merchants for three main reasons: predicted chargeback ratios above 1%, regulatory uncertainty around your industry (e.g. crypto without VASP registration, gambling without a licence), or simply because your vertical isn't in their risk appetite. Helopay is different. We have explicit acquiring relationships for each high-risk vertical we serve. We don't reject you for being high-risk — we partner with you to manage that risk transparently through proper documentation, reserve structures, and compliance frameworks.
Helopay offers a two-stage approval process. Pre-approval takes as little as 48 hours after you submit your basic business information and KYC documents. Full underwriting, which includes compliance review and acquiring bank sign-off, typically takes 5–10 business days depending on your industry and jurisdiction. Crypto and gambling merchants may require additional licensing verification, which can extend timelines slightly. Our onboarding team will guide you through every step and keep you updated on progress.
Mobile money payouts settle instantly in most cases. Bank transfers typically settle within 24 hours. Settlement timelines may vary by country and payment method. You can track all disbursements in real time from your dashboard.
Yes. Helopay is PCI DSS compliant, ISO 27001 certified, and operates in accordance with financial regulations in each country we serve. We use bank-grade encryption, fraud detection, and real-time transaction monitoring to keep your funds and data safe.
Helopay charges a small transaction fee per payment processed. There are no setup fees or monthly minimums. Our pricing is transparent and scales with your volume. Contact our sales team for a custom quote tailored to your business needs.
Getting started is simple. Click "Get Started" to create your account, complete our quick KYC verification, and you'll have access to your API keys and dashboard within 24 hours. Our onboarding team will guide you through every step.
Guides, insights and updates from the team building payment infrastructure for Africa's most ambitious businesses.
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