Overview
ninoPOS accepts money in two different places, and it is important to know the difference:
- At the POS till — when a customer stands in front of you and pays in the shop. Here you choose Cash, Card, or Mobile (M-Pesa, Airtel Money, and others). These buttons are always ready. You do not need to switch anything on.
- Online — when you send a customer an invoice or they buy from your online storefront, and they pay from their own phone or computer. This is where the Payment Settings page comes in. There you turn on the online gateways (PayPal, Snippe, and bank transfer) and enter your account details.
This guide covers both. Most of it is about the Payment Settings page, because that is the part you set up once.
┌───────────────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────────┐ │ AT THE POS TILL │ │ ONLINE PAYMENTS │ │ (customer in the shop) │ │ (invoice / storefront) │ │ │ │ │ │ 💵 Cash │ │ 💳 PayPal (cards) │ │ 💳 Card │ │ 📱 Snippe (mobile money) │ │ 📱 Mobile money │ │ 🏦 Bank transfer │ │ │ │ │ │ Always available. │ │ Turn on + enter │ │ Built in. │ │ details in Settings. │ └───────────────────────────┘ └───────────────────────────┘
Only an admin can open Payment Settings and change these details. Cashiers and other staff will not see this page. This protects your account keys.
Part 1: Online Payment Settings
How to open the page
From the left sidebar, click Settings. On the Settings page, open Payment Settings.
You will see the heading Payment Settings with the line "Accept payments via PayPal, Snippe, or bank transfer." There is a Back to Settings link at the top, and Reset and Save buttons in the top right.
The Save button stays grey until you actually change something. After you edit a field, it turns on. Nothing is saved until you click it. Use Reset to throw away changes you have not saved yet.
The page has four parts
At the top there is a box called Default provider, with the note "Which gateway customers see first at checkout." Click it and pick one:
- PayPal
- Snippe (mobile money)
- Bank transfer (manual)
You can also leave it on — none —. This decides which provider is used by default — and choosing one here automatically turns it on when you save, so make sure you have filled in that provider's credentials lower down the page first.
Each provider is a card with an on/off switch on the right. When you switch it ON, its fields appear. When it is OFF, the fields are hidden and it is not offered to customers.
💳 PayPal (for card payments)
Switch on PayPal to accept debit and credit cards from around the world. Fill in these fields:
Leave Mode on Sandbox (test) until everything works. In Sandbox no real money moves. Only switch to Live when you are sure — otherwise customers may be charged during testing.
⚡ Snippe (M-Pesa and mobile money)
This card is titled Snippe (M-Pesa / Mobile Money) and carries the tag "recommended for East Africa". Snippe lets your customers pay online with M-Pesa and other mobile money, and it also handles cards. Switch it on and fill in:
For step-by-step help getting your Snippe / M-Pesa details and connecting them, see the M-Pesa Setup guide.
🏦 Bank transfer (manual)
Switch on Bank transfer (manual) if you want customers to send money straight to your bank account. This is "manual" because the money arrives in your bank the normal way — ninoPOS just shows the customer your details and the instructions. You then confirm the payment yourself once it lands.
When you are done, click Save in the top right. You will see a message that says "Payment settings saved." If a save fails, an error message tells you why — check the field and try again.
The Client secret and API key are stored encrypted. When you come back to the page later, they show as dots (••••••••) instead of the real value. If you leave the dots and save, the saved key is kept. Only type in this field when you want to replace the key with a new one.
| Field | Provider | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Client ID | PayPal | Public ID from your PayPal account |
| Client secret | PayPal | Secret key (kept encrypted) |
| Mode | PayPal | Sandbox (test) or Live (real money) |
| Merchant ID | Snippe | Your Snippe merchant number |
| API key | Snippe | Secret key (kept encrypted) |
| Account name / number, Bank, Branch, SWIFT | Bank transfer | Your bank details, shown to the customer |
| Instructions to customer | Bank transfer | A short note (e.g. "use invoice number as reference") |
Part 2: Payment Methods at the POS Till
The POS till has its own payment buttons built in. You do not set these up on the Payment Settings page — they are always there for your cashiers.
When you finish a sale and open the Payment window, you see three buttons under Payment Method:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Payment │ │ │ │ Payment Method │ │ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ │ │ │ CASH │ │ CARD │ │ MOBILE │ │ │ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ └─────────┘ │ │ │ │ Subtotal ........................ 95,000 │ │ Tax ............................. 15,200 │ │ Total Due ...................... 110,200 │ │ │ │ [ Complete & Print ] │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
| Button | What happens |
|---|---|
| 💵 CASH | A Cash Received box appears. Type what the customer handed you, and the system works out the change. |
| 💳 CARD | Records the sale as a card payment. You take the card on your own card machine. |
| 📱 MOBILE | A list of mobile money providers appears, plus a box for the customer's phone number. |
Mobile money providers at the till
When you tap MOBILE, you can pick which network the customer is using:
- M-Pesa TZ
- Airtel Money
- Mixx by Yas
- HaloPesa
- M-Pesa KE
- MTN MoMo UG
- MTN MoMo RW
Choosing the right provider and entering the Customer phone keeps your records clean, so you can tell later exactly how each sale was paid.
To let a customer pay later, choose CASH and enter 0 in the Cash Received box for a saved customer. The balance is kept as what they owe. For the full walk-through of the till, see the Making a Sale guide.
Which one should I turn on?
| You want to... | Use this |
|---|---|
| Take money face-to-face in the shop | POS till buttons (Cash / Card / Mobile) — already on |
| Let customers pay an invoice with M-Pesa or mobile money online | Turn on Snippe |
| Take card payments online from anywhere | Turn on PayPal (or Snippe) |
| Have customers send money to your bank | Turn on Bank transfer (manual) |
If you switch a provider OFF and Save, customers can no longer pick it online. Your saved keys are kept, so you can switch it back on later without typing them again.