Connect a payment gateway
Enable a payment provider for your campus so it can collect money.
A payment gateway is the service that actually moves money — mobile money, cards, and the like. Before families can pay any fee you set up, your campus needs at least one gateway connected. As bursar, you do this once: pick a provider, enter the account details it gives you, and mark one as the default. This guide walks you through it.
Before you start
You need Bursary access. If you don't see "Bursary" in the sidebar, ask a school admin to grant it. Have your provider account details to hand — the codes and keys you'll enter come from the provider (SchoolPay or Pesapal), not from this app.
Step 1: Open Payment Gateways
In the left sidebar, find the Bursary section and click Payment Gateways. The page opens with two tabs:
- Connected — the providers your campus already uses.
- Store — the providers you can enable.
If nothing is connected yet, the Connected tab shows "No gateways connected yet" with a Browse the store button — clicking it jumps you straight to the next step.
Step 2: Open the Store
Click the Store tab. You'll see a card for each available provider with a short description. A card you haven't enabled shows an Available badge; one you've already set up shows a Connected badge and looks dimmed.
Finding a provider
Use the Search gateways box, or the All / Connected / Available buttons, to narrow the list.
Step 3: Enable a provider
Click the card for the provider you want — for example SchoolPay or Pesapal. A panel slides in from the right titled Enable followed by the provider's name.
At the top is a How to set up link for that provider — click it to expand step-by-step instructions and, for some providers, a link to their documentation.
Step 4: Enter the account details
Fill in the fields in the panel. They differ from one provider to the next — only enter what you see:
- SchoolPay asks for a School code and a Password (both from SchoolPay / ServiceCops).
- Pesapal asks for an Environment — choose Test (Sandbox) while trying it out, or Live (Production) when you're ready to take real money — plus a Consumer key, a Consumer secret, an IPN ID, and an optional Currency.
Pesapal shortcut
If you don't have an IPN ID yet, fill in the environment, consumer key, and consumer secret first, then click Register IPN — the app fills the IPN ID in for you.
You can also add an optional Label (such as "Main MoMo account") to tell accounts apart if you connect more than one.
Step 5: Set it as the default
Turn on Set as default if this should be the gateway used whenever a payment doesn't name a specific one. Most campuses keep their main account as the default.
One default at a time
Only one gateway can be the default. Marking a new one as default takes that role away from the previous one.
Step 6: Save
Click the Enable button at the bottom of the panel (it shows the provider's name). The panel closes and you'll see a confirmation that the provider is enabled.
What happens next
- The provider now appears on the Connected tab with an Enabled status, and a Default marker if you chose that.
- Open any connected card to edit its details. The menu on a card lets you Set default, Disable or Enable, or Remove it.
- Your campus can now collect money. Any payment item you create will charge through this gateway.
Keeping secrets safe
For security, saved passwords and secret keys are hidden — you'll only ever see them masked. When editing a gateway, leave a credential field blank to keep its existing value.