Why M-Pesa is not just another payment button
M-Pesa is asynchronous. A user can approve STK Push seconds later — or never. Your UI must handle pending, success, timeout, and duplicate callback states without double-crediting or lost payments.
Integration patterns
STK Push: best for logged-in users paying known amounts. C2B: paybill/till with account reference for reconciliation. B2C: disbursements to customer phones. Each pattern has different callback structures and reconciliation needs.
Production checklist
Idempotent callback handlers. Separate payment intent from confirmed payment. Daily reconciliation against provider statements. Sandbox-to-production credential rotation. Logging without storing sensitive payloads. User-visible payment status with retry paths.
When to bring in integration expertise
If your product core is payments — wallets, lending, collections, SACCO contributions — budget integration architecture into discovery, not implementation. Afri-Silicon scopes M-Pesa flows in every fintech engagement from sprint one.