TeledeusHow to add bill payments to your app in Nigeria
Electricity tokens, cable TV renewals, exam PINs and betting top-ups are payments people make every month. Adding them to your app gives customers a reason to open it often. This guide covers what to decide and build before you go live.
Start with the bills your customers already pay
Most apps start with electricity and cable TV because they recur monthly. Exam PINs matter if you serve students and parents, and betting wallet funding if your users already bet. Add categories one at a time so support and finance can keep up.
Always confirm the customer before you charge
The most common bill-payment complaint is a token sent to the wrong meter. Validate the meter, smartcard or account number first, show the customer the name it returns, and only take payment once they confirm it is theirs.
Fund one wallet, not one payment at a time
Bill payment APIs in Nigeria usually work from a prepaid wallet. You fund it by bank transfer, and each payment is debited from it. Keep enough balance for a busy day and set an alert before it runs low.
Treat "pending" as a status, not a failure
Sometimes a DisCo or provider is slow to answer. The payment then shows as pending. Never pay again straight away: that is how customers end up charged twice. Check the status by your reference after a few minutes, or wait for the webhook.
Plan for refunds and reconciliation from day one
Finance will ask three questions every month: what was paid, what failed, and where the money went. Build for them early.
- Give every payment your own unique reference.
- Store the final status from the webhook, not just the first response.
- Let customers see and resend their token from their history.
- Make sure failed payments are reversed to your wallet automatically, and to the customer’s balance in your app.
Go live in small steps
Test each biller with small amounts, launch to a slice of users, and watch failures and support tickets for a week before you promote it widely.