Paystack

Paystack Accept Payments API

Initialize, verify, charge, and manage one-time card, bank, USSD, mobile money, QR, and bank transfer payments. The Transaction and Charge resources are the core of Paystack — a hosted checkout flow (initialize + verify) and a direct charge flow that drives the customer through PIN, OTP, phone, birthday, and address challenges as required.

GitHub OpenAPI

Documentation

📖
Documentation
https://paystack.com/docs/api/transaction/
📖
Documentation
https://paystack.com/docs/api/charge/

Specifications

⚙
OpenAPI
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/paystack/refs/heads/main/openapi/paystack-accept-payments-openapi.yml

Examples

📝
Example
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/paystack/refs/heads/main/examples/paystack-initialize-transaction-example.json
📝
Example
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/paystack/refs/heads/main/examples/paystack-verify-transaction-example.json

Schemas & Data

📊
JSONSchema
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/paystack/refs/heads/main/json-schema/paystack-transaction-schema.json
📊
JSONStructure
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/paystack/refs/heads/main/json-structure/paystack-transaction-structure.json

OpenAPI Specification

paystack-accept-payments-openapi.yml Raw ↑ 
openapi: 3.0.1
info:
  title: Paystack Accept Payments API
  description: Initialize, verify, charge, and manage one-time card, bank, USSD, mobile money, and QR payments. The core API
    for accepting payments through Paystack across Africa.
  version: 1.0.0
  contact:
    name: Paystack Support
    url: https://support.paystack.com
    email: support@paystack.com
  license:
    name: Apache 2.0
    url: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html
servers:
- url: https://api.paystack.co
  description: Base API endpoint
tags:
- name: Transaction
- name: Charge
paths:
  /transaction/initialize:
    post:
      tags:
      - Transaction
      summary: Initialize Transaction
      operationId: transaction_initialize
      description: Create a new transaction
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/x-www-form-urlencoded:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/paths/~1transaction~1initialize/post/requestBody/content/application~1json/schema'
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              required:
              - email
              - amount
              properties:
                email:
                  description: Customer's email address
                  type: string
                amount:
                  description: Amount should be in kobo if currency is NGN, pesewas, if currency is GHS, and cents, if currency
                    is ZAR
                  type: integer
                currency:
                  description: The transaction currency
                  type: string
                  enum:
                  - NGN
                  - GHS
                  - ZAR
                  - USD
                reference:
                  description: Unique transaction reference. Only -, ., = and alphanumeric characters allowed.
                  type: string
                callback_url:
                  description: Fully qualified url, e.g. https://example.com/ . Use this to override the callback url provided
                    on the dashboard for this transaction
                  type: string
                plan:
                  description: "If transaction is to create a subscription to a predefined plan, provide plan code here. \n\
                    This would invalidate the value provided in amount"
                  type: string
                invoice_limit:
                  description: Number of times to charge customer during subscription to plan
                  type: integer
                metadata:
                  description: Stringified JSON object of custom data
                  type: string
                channels:
                  description: An array of payment channels to control what channels you want to make available to the user
                    to make a payment with
                  type: array
                  items:
                    type: string
                    enum:
                    - card
                    - bank
                    - ussd
                    - qr
                    - eft
                    - mobile_money
                    - bank_transfer
                split_code:
                  description: The split code of the transaction split
                  type: string
                subaccount:
                  description: The code for the subaccount that owns the payment
                  type: string
                transaction_charge:
                  description: "A flat fee to charge the subaccount for a transaction. \nThis overrides the split percentage\
                    \ set when the subaccount was created"
                  type: string
                bearer:
                  description: The beare of the transaction charge
                  type: string
                  enum:
                  - account
                  - subaccount
      responses:
        '201':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /transaction/verify/{reference}:
    get:
      tags:
      - Transaction
      summary: Verify Transaction
      operationId: transaction_verify
      parameters:
      - name: reference
        in: path
        description: The transaction reference to verify
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        '404':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /transaction:
    get:
      tags:
      - Transaction
      summary: List Transactions
      operationId: transaction_list
      parameters:
      - in: query
        name: perPage
        schema:
          type: integer
        description: Number of records to fetch per page
      - in: query
        name: page
        schema:
          type: integer
        description: The section to retrieve
      - in: query
        name: from
        schema:
          type: string
          format: date-time
        description: The start date
      - in: query
        name: to
        schema:
          type: string
          format: date-time
        description: The end date
      responses:
        '200':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        '404':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /transaction/{id}:
    get:
      tags:
      - Transaction
      summary: Fetch Transaction
      operationId: transaction_fetch
      parameters:
      - name: id
        in: path
        description: The ID of the transaction to fetch
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        '404':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /transaction/timeline/{id_or_reference}:
    get:
      tags:
      - Transaction
      summary: Fetch Transaction Timeline
      operationId: transaction_timeline
      parameters:
      - name: id_or_reference
        in: path
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        '404':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /transaction/totals:
    get:
      tags:
      - Transaction
      summary: Transaction Totals
      operationId: transaction_totals
      parameters:
      - in: query
        name: perPage
        schema:
          type: integer
        description: Number of records to fetch per page
      - in: query
        name: page
        schema:
          type: integer
        description: The section to retrieve
      - in: query
        name: from
        schema:
          type: string
          format: date-time
        description: The start date
      - in: query
        name: to
        schema:
          type: string
          format: date-time
        description: The end date
      responses:
        '200':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        '404':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /transaction/export:
    get:
      tags:
      - Transaction
      summary: Export Transactions
      operationId: transaction_download
      parameters:
      - in: query
        name: perPage
        schema:
          type: integer
        description: Number of records to fetch per page
      - in: query
        name: page
        schema:
          type: integer
        description: The section to retrieve
      - in: query
        name: from
        schema:
          type: string
          format: date-time
        description: The start date
      - in: query
        name: to
        schema:
          type: string
          format: date-time
        description: The end date
      responses:
        '200':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        '404':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /transaction/charge_authorization:
    post:
      tags:
      - Transaction
      summary: Charge Authorization
      operationId: transaction_chargeAuthorization
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/x-www-form-urlencoded:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/paths/~1transaction~1charge_authorization/post/requestBody/content/application~1json/schema'
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              required:
              - email
              - amount
              - authorization_code
              properties:
                email:
                  description: Customer's email address
                  type: string
                amount:
                  description: Amount should be in kobo if currency is NGN, pesewas, if currency is GHS, and cents, if currency
                    is ZAR
                  type: integer
                authorization_code:
                  description: Valid authorization code to charge
                  type: string
                reference:
                  description: Unique transaction reference. Only -, ., = and alphanumeric characters allowed.
                  type: string
                currency:
                  description: The transaction currency
                  type: string
                  enum:
                  - NGN
                  - GHS
                  - ZAR
                  - USD
                metadata:
                  description: Stringified JSON object of custom data
                  type: string
                split_code:
                  description: The split code of the transaction split
                  type: string
                subaccount:
                  description: The code for the subaccount that owns the payment
                  type: string
                transaction_charge:
                  description: "A flat fee to charge the subaccount for a transaction. \nThis overrides the split percentage\
                    \ set when the subaccount was created"
                  type: string
                bearer:
                  description: The beare of the transaction charge
                  type: string
                  enum:
                  - account
                  - subaccount
                queue:
                  description: If you are making a scheduled charge call, it is a good idea to queue them so the processing
                    system does not get overloaded causing transaction processing errors.
                  type: boolean
      responses:
        '201':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /transaction/check_authorization:
    post:
      tags:
      - Transaction
      summary: Check Authorization
      operationId: transaction_checkAuthorization
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/x-www-form-urlencoded:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/paths/~1transaction~1check_authorization/post/requestBody/content/application~1json/schema'
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              required:
              - email
              - amount
              properties:
                email:
                  description: Customer's email address
                  type: string
                amount:
                  description: Amount should be in kobo if currency is NGN, pesewas, if currency is GHS, and cents, if currency
                    is ZAR
                  type: integer
                authorization_code:
                  description: Valid authorization code to charge
                  type: string
                currency:
                  description: The transaction currency
                  type: string
                  enum:
                  - NGN
                  - GHS
                  - ZAR
                  - USD
      responses:
        '201':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /transaction/partial_debit:
    post:
      tags:
      - Transaction
      summary: Partial Debit
      operationId: transaction_partialDebit
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/x-www-form-urlencoded:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/paths/~1transaction~1partial_debit/post/requestBody/content/application~1json/schema'
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              required:
              - email
              - amount
              - authorization_code
              - currency
              properties:
                email:
                  description: Customer's email address
                  type: string
                amount:
                  description: Amount should be in kobo if currency is NGN, pesewas, if currency is GHS, and cents, if currency
                    is ZAR
                  type: integer
                authorization_code:
                  description: Valid authorization code to charge
                  type: string
                currency:
                  description: The transaction currency
                  type: string
                  enum:
                  - NGN
                  - GHS
                  - ZAR
                  - USD
                reference:
                  description: Unique transaction reference. Only -, ., = and alphanumeric characters allowed.
                  type: string
                at_least:
                  description: Minimum amount to charge
                  type: string
      responses:
        '201':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /transaction/{id}/event:
    get:
      tags:
      - Transaction
      summary: Get Transaction Event
      operationId: transaction_event
      parameters:
      - name: id
        in: path
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        '404':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /transaction/{id}/session:
    get:
      tags:
      - Transaction
      summary: Get Transaction Session
      operationId: transaction_session
      parameters:
      - name: id
        in: path
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        '404':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /charge:
    post:
      tags:
      - Charge
      summary: Create Charge
      operationId: charge_create
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/x-www-form-urlencoded:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/paths/~1charge/post/requestBody/content/application~1json/schema'
          application/json:
            schema:
              allOf:
              - type: object
                required:
                - email
                - amount
                properties:
                  email:
                    description: Customer's email address
                    type: string
                  amount:
                    description: Amount should be in kobo if currency is NGN, pesewas, if currency is GHS, and cents, if currency
                      is ZAR
                    type: string
                  authorization_code:
                    description: An authorization code to charge.
                    type: string
                  pin:
                    description: 4-digit PIN (send with a non-reusable authorization code)
                    type: string
                  reference:
                    description: Unique transaction reference. Only -, .`, = and alphanumeric characters allowed.
                    type: string
                  birthday:
                    description: The customer's birthday in the format YYYY-MM-DD e.g 2017-05-16
                    type: string
                    format: date-time
                  device_id:
                    description: "This is the unique identifier of the device a user uses in making payment. \nOnly -, .`,\
                      \ = and alphanumeric characters are allowed."
                    type: string
                  metadata:
                    description: Stringified JSON object of custom data
                    type: string
              - type: object
                properties:
                  bank:
                    type: object
                    properties:
                      code:
                        description: Customer's bank code
                        type: string
                      account_number:
                        description: Customer's account number
                        type: string
              - type: object
                properties:
                  mobile_money:
                    type: object
                    properties:
                      phone:
                        description: Customer's phone number
                        type: string
                      provider:
                        description: "The telco provider of customer's phone number. \nThis can be fetched from the List Bank\
                          \ endpoint\n"
                        type: string
              - type: object
                properties:
                  ussd:
                    type: object
                    properties:
                      type:
                        description: The three-digit USSD code
                        type: string
                        enum:
                        - 737
                        - 919
                        - 822
                        - 966
              - type: object
                properties:
                  eft:
                    type: object
                    properties:
                      provider:
                        description: The EFT provider
                        type: string
                        enum:
                        - ozow
      responses:
        '201':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /charge/submit_pin:
    post:
      tags:
      - Charge
      summary: Submit PIN
      operationId: charge_submitPin
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/x-www-form-urlencoded:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/paths/~1charge~1submit_pin/post/requestBody/content/application~1json/schema'
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              required:
              - pin
              - reference
              properties:
                pin:
                  description: Customer's PIN
                  type: string
                reference:
                  description: Transaction reference that requires the PIN
                  type: string
      responses:
        '201':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /charge/submit_otp:
    post:
      tags:
      - Charge
      summary: Submit OTP
      operationId: charge_submitOtp
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/x-www-form-urlencoded:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/paths/~1charge~1submit_otp/post/requestBody/content/application~1json/schema'
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              required:
              - otp
              - reference
              properties:
                otp:
                  description: Customer's OTP
                  type: string
                reference:
                  description: The reference of the ongoing transaction
                  type: string
      responses:
        '201':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /charge/submit_phone:
    post:
      tags:
      - Charge
      summary: Submit Phone
      operationId: charge_submitPhone
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/x-www-form-urlencoded:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/paths/~1charge~1submit_phone/post/requestBody/content/application~1json/schema'
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              required:
              - phone
              - reference
              properties:
                phone:
                  description: Customer's mobile number
                  type: string
                reference:
                  description: The reference of the ongoing transaction
                  type: string
      responses:
        '201':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /charge/submit_birthday:
    post:
      tags:
      - Charge
      summary: Submit Birthday
      operationId: charge_submitBirthday
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/x-www-form-urlencoded:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/paths/~1charge~1submit_birthday/post/requestBody/content/application~1json/schema'
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              required:
              - birthday
              - reference
              properties:
                birthday:
                  description: Customer's birthday in the format YYYY-MM-DD e.g 2016-09-21
                  type: string
                reference:
                  description: The reference of the ongoing transaction
                  type: string
      responses:
        '201':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /charge/submit_address:
    post:
      tags:
      - Charge
      summary: Submit Address
      operationId: charge_submitAddress
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/x-www-form-urlencoded:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/paths/~1charge~1submit_address/post/requestBody/content/application~1json/schema'
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              required:
              - address
              - reference
              - city
              - state
              - zipcode
              properties:
                address:
                  description: Customer's address
                  type: string
                city:
                  description: Customer's city
                  type: string
                state:
                  description: Customer's state
                  type: string
                zipcode:
                  description: Customer's zipcode
                  type: string
                reference:
                  description: The reference of the ongoing transaction
                  type: string
      responses:
        '201':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
  /charge/{reference}:
    get:
      tags:
      - Charge
      summary: Check Pending Charge
      operationId: charge_check
      parameters:
      - name: reference
        in: path
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/200'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        '404':
          $ref: '#/paths/~1plan/get/responses/401'
        default:
          description: Server error
components:
  securitySchemes:
    bearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
  schemas:
    Customer:
      allOf:
      - type: object
        required:
        - email
        properties:
          email:
            description: Customer's email address
            type: string
      - type: object
        properties:
          first_name:
            description: Customer's first name
            type: string
          last_name:
            description: Customer's last name
            type: string
          phone:
            description: Customer's phone number
            type: string
          metadata:
            description: Stringified JSON object of custom data
            type: string
      - type: object
        required:
        - authorization_code
        properties:
          authorization_code:
            description: Customer's authorization code to be deactivated
            type: string
      - type: object
        required:
        - customer
        properties:
          customer:
            description: Customer's code, or email address
            type: string
          risk_action:
            description: "One of the possible risk actions [ default, allow, deny ]. allow to whitelist. \ndeny to blacklist.\
              \ Customers start with a default risk action.\n"
            type: string
            enum:
            - default
            - allow
            - deny
      - type: object
        required:
        - type
        - country
        - bvn
        - bank_code
        - account_number
        properties:
          type:
            description: Predefined types of identification.
            type: string
            enum:
            - bvn
            - bank_account
          country:
            description: Two-letter country code of identification issuer
            type: string
          bvn:
            description: Customer's Bank Verification Number
            type: string
          bank_code:
            description: You can get the list of bank codes by calling the List Banks endpoint (https://api.paystack.co/bank).
            type: string
          account_number:
            description: Customer's bank account number.
            type: string
          value:
            description: Customer's identification number. Required if type is bvn
            type: string
    Error:
      type: object
      properties:
        status:
          type: boolean
        message:
          type: string
    Response:
      type: object
      properties:
        status:
          type: boolean
        message:
          type: string
        data:
          type: object
security:
- bearerAuth: []