Session 01 - Choosing the Right Payment Feature

Choosing the Right Payment Feature

Monnify Build Sessions #01 “Integration bugs don’t always break your code, sometimes they break your accounting.”

The Core Problem

The Reality: Picking the wrong payment flow early forces an expensive rebuild later. Hackathon Example: A significant number of Ajo/savings teams in the Developer Challenge used Reserved Accounts; the other relied on Checkout alone for recurring contributions, meaning they had to build their own logic to match each deposit back to a contributor.

Payment Feature Matrix

Feature	Primary Mechanism	Best For	When NOT to Use
Reserved Accounts	Dedicated NUBAN per user/wallet	Wallet top-ups, Ajo, multi-vendor marketplaces (per-seller settlement)	One-off guest purchases
Checkout Modal	Multi-channel collection UI	E-commerce carts, tickets	Automated background funding
Direct Debit / Recurring Debits	Mandate-based recurring pull (or card tokenization)	Loans, subscriptions, recurring thrift	One-time variable payments

Deep Dive: Reserved Accounts vs. Checkout

Case Study 1: Ajo / Savings App

X What Often Happens Triggering a Checkout modal every time a user contributes.

Result: high drop-offs, and reconciliation work to match each deposit back to a contributor - because Checkout doesn’t attribute payments automatically the way Reserved Accounts do. ✓ What Works Better Reserved Account: assigned on signup for continuous wallet top-ups. Direct Debit Mandates: automated recurring monthly savings pulls. Checkout: one-time setup fees or manual boost deposits only.

Case Study 2: Loan / Subscription App

X What Often Happens Manual reminders plus a Checkout link sent out every billing cycle. Result: missed collection dates - repayment relies on the borrower remembering to pay. ✓ What Works Better Direct Debit Mandate: signed once, at disbursement - no reminders needed. Pulls automatically on the due date, straight from the customer’s bank account. Failed pulls don’t always webhook - poll Get Debit Status to catch them, but the mandate still fires on schedule with no manual chasing. Alternative: card tokenization works just as well here if the product bills by card rather than bank mandate.

HOW THE MANDATE ACTUALLY WORKS

Case Study 3: Event Ticketing

What Often Happens A Reserved Account issued per attendee, for a single ticket purchase. Result: every attendee pushed through BVN/NIN verification, and a pile of dormant accounts left over after the event. ✓ What Works Better Checkout: card, USSD, or transfer - collected in one session. No identity verification needed for a one-off sale. Nothing to deallocate or maintain once the event is over.