Overview
Most customers in Tanzania and Kenya pay with mobile money — M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa (now Mixx by Yas), Airtel Money, HaloPesa, and MTN MoMo. This guide shows you how to take and record those payments in ninoPOS, both at the till and on an invoice.
At the point of sale, ninoPOS records a mobile-money payment. It does not pull the money for you. The customer sends the money from their own phone to your own till number or business number (the one you already have from Vodacom, Airtel, Tigo/Yas, etc.). You confirm the money has arrived — from your own confirmation SMS or app — and then finish the sale in ninoPOS.
In short: ninoPOS keeps your books correct. Your mobile-money account still receives the actual money, exactly as it does today.
CUSTOMER YOU (Cashier) ninoPOS
│ │ │
│ 1. Ring up the items │ │
│◄─────────────────────────────┤ Cart total: TZS 25,000 │
│ │ │
│ 2. "Pay by M-Pesa please" │ │
│──────────────────────────────► │
│ │ │
│ 3. Customer sends money │ │
│ to YOUR till number │ │
│ from their own phone │ │
│ │ │
│ 4. You get confirmation SMS │ │
│ on your phone (money in) │ │
│ │ │
│ │ 5. Choose "Mobile", │
│ │ pick provider, │──► Sale saved
│ │ tap Complete │ Stock updated
│ │ │ Books updated
│ 6. Receipt │ │
│◄─────────────────────────────┤ │
Taking a Mobile-Money Payment at the POS
Open the till from POS in the sidebar, add the customer's items to the cart, then follow these steps.
When the cart is ready, tap the blue F5 Checkout button at the bottom of the cart (it shows the total). On a keyboard you can also just press F5. This opens the payment window.
At the top of the payment window you will see three payment methods: Cash, Card, and Mobile. Tap Mobile. (See the labelled illustration of this window near the top of this section.)
Tap the network the customer is paying with. ninoPOS lists the common East African providers:
The one you tap turns blue to show it is selected. This is just a label for your records — it tells your reports and receipts which network the money came through.
Type the phone number the customer paid from into the Customer phone box (for example 0744 123 456). This is saved on the sale so you can match it later if there is ever a question about the payment.
If a customer later says "I paid but you didn't give me my goods," the phone number and provider on the sale make it easy to find their payment in your M-Pesa or Airtel statement. It is optional, but it saves you time.
Before you finish, make sure you have actually received the money. Check your own confirmation SMS or your mobile-money app. ninoPOS does not check this for you.
Once you can see the money is in, tap Complete & Print. ninoPOS saves the sale, records it as paid by mobile money, prints the receipt, and reduces your stock.
ninoPOS trusts you when you tap Complete — it marks the sale as fully paid. If you complete the sale before the customer's payment has reached your account, your books will show money you never received. Always wait for your own confirmation SMS first.
Recording a Mobile-Money Payment on an Invoice
If you sent a customer an invoice and they later pay you by M-Pesa or another mobile network, record that payment against the invoice so its balance updates.
Go to Invoices, open the invoice the customer paid, and tap the Record payment button. A window opens showing the outstanding balance.
The Payment method list includes Cash, M-Pesa, Mobile Money, Bank transfer, Credit Card, Debit Card, Check, and Other. Pick M-Pesa for Safaricom/Vodacom M-Pesa, or Mobile Money for Airtel Money, Mixx by Yas, HaloPesa and the rest.
ninoPOS applies the payment. If it covers the whole balance the invoice becomes Paid; if it is only part, it becomes Partial and keeps the remaining balance so you can chase it later.
Every mobile-money payment has a code (for example an M-Pesa code like QR12AB3CDE). Putting it in the Reference box means you can always find the exact payment in your mobile-money statement. This is the single best habit for clean records.
Where Mobile Money Is Set Up: Settings → Payment Settings
You do not need to set anything up to record mobile-money payments at the till or on an invoice — those options are always there. The Payment Settings page is only for taking payments online.
Go to Settings → Payment Settings (under the Commerce group). Here you can connect an online payment provider so customers can pay you over the internet — for example from an online invoice link or your storefront:
- At the till (POS) and on invoices: the Mobile / M-Pesa / Mobile Money options simply record that the customer paid to your existing till. No setup needed.
- Online (Settings → Payment Settings): connecting Snippe is optional and separate. It lets customers pay you over the internet, where a payment prompt can be pushed to their phone. This is for online invoice links and your storefront — not for the in-store Mobile button.
Split Payments (Part Cash, Part Mobile)
Sometimes a customer pays part in cash and the rest by M-Pesa. Two easy ways to handle this:
- On an invoice: record one payment for the cash amount (method Cash), then record a second payment for the mobile-money amount (method M-Pesa or Mobile Money). The invoice adds them up and updates the balance each time.
- At the till: the payment window uses one method per sale. If you need a true split at the counter, take the part-payment and leave the rest on the customer's account (or record the balance on an invoice afterwards).
Common Questions & Mistakes
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Does ninoPOS send the M-Pesa request to the customer's phone at the till? | No. At the till you record the payment. The customer sends the money to your till from their own phone. |
| I completed the sale but the money never came in | Always check your own confirmation SMS before tapping Complete. Never complete on the customer's word alone. |
| Customer paid the wrong amount | On an invoice, record the exact amount received. The invoice will show a Partial balance for the rest. |
| Can't find a payment later | Record the transaction code in the Reference box and the phone number on the sale, every time. |
| Which method for Airtel Money or Mixx by Yas on an invoice? | Choose Mobile Money. Use M-Pesa specifically for M-Pesa. |