# How a mobile money payment actually works

> From the moment a customer types their number to the moment the money is in your balance, and what can go wrong at each step.

Category: Accepting payments · Last updated: 2026-09-16 · Source: https://ultraner.com/resources/payments/how-a-mobile-money-payment-works

A card payment is a pull: you have the card details, and you take the money. A mobile money payment is a push: you ask, and the customer approves on their own phone. Almost every difference follows from that.

## The six steps

1. You create the payment, with an amount and the customer’s number. Nothing has moved yet.
2. Ultraner works out the network and routes the request to a gateway connected to it.
3. The network sends a prompt to the customer’s handset. On most networks this is a USSD push that interrupts whatever they are doing.
4. The customer enters their mobile money PIN. This is the only moment the payment is actually authorised, and it happens on their phone, not on your page.
5. The network moves the money and tells the gateway, which tells Ultraner.
6. Ultraner credits your balance and sends you a webhook. Your system reacts to that, not to the earlier steps.

## Where it goes wrong

- The customer dismisses the prompt, or it arrives while they are on a call. Nothing is charged. They can try again.
- They do not have the balance. The network declines it before anything reaches you.
- The network is busy. The prompt is slow, and the payment sits pending for longer than anyone enjoys.
- A wrong number. The prompt goes to somebody else, who quite reasonably declines it.

None of these leave you half-paid. A mobile money payment either completes or does not, which is one of the genuinely pleasant things about the rail.

**What this means for your checkout**

Tell the customer to expect a prompt on their phone. A page that says "check your phone and enter your PIN" converts noticeably better than one that spins silently, because the customer knows what they are waiting for.

## Read next

- Mobile money, explained: https://ultraner.com/resources/africa/mobile-money-explained
- What is universal checkout?: https://ultraner.com/resources/payments/universal-checkout
- Settlement: getting paid into your own bank: https://ultraner.com/resources/payouts/settlement

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Ultraner is the payment layer for Africa. https://ultraner.com