🇪🇹 Ethiopia: One of Africa’s most exciting mobile money markets — coming soon!

We’re making great progress toward launching in Ethiopia. Following the approval of our PSO license from the National Bank of Ethiopia, we’re now in the pilot phase — with both M-PESA and Telebirr on board.

With over 120 million people and more than 61 million mobile money users, Ethiopia is one of the most exciting mobile money markets on the continent. In 2025 alone, it saw over €215 billion in mobile money transactions — surpassing Kenya’s peak and quickly catching up to Nigeria.

🌱 Want to expand into Ethiopia? Reach out to your Account Manager or contact our Sales team.

Product updates: What’s new, what’s next

New Dashboard Help menu

As part of improving the pawaPay Dashboard experience, we’ve made it easier to access help content. You’ll now find a new Help menu in the top-right global bar. From there, you can access:

• API & Dashboard documentation
• Dashboard Tutorials
• Payment Support (live accounts only)
  • Note: This link was previously accessed via the “Support” button in the bottom-left of the Dashboard.

V2 API is now live!

We’ve redesigned the pawaPay API to make it easier to work with and more flexible to integrate.

V2 supports a wider range of payment flows, reduces the chance of failed transactions, and gives your team better tools to build dynamic, customer-friendly experiences.

Here’s what’s new:

• Support for more payment authorisation flows (e.g. OTP, redirection)
• Richer config data to help avoid failures at payment initiation
• Improved phone number validation via the provider prediction endpoint
• A restructured, more flexible Active Configuration endpoint to:
  • Guide customers through provider-specific authorisation steps
  • Dynamically display provider names, logos, currencies and flags
  • Help prevent failed transactions

V1 of the API will still be supported — but we highly recommend upgrading to access these improvements. Use our Upgrade Guide to help you plan and migrate smoothly.

📘 New and improved V2 docs, guides and resources 👉 docs.pawapay.io.

Fixing incorrect payment statuses

In rare cases, a payment may show as failed, even though your customer was actually charged. We know how confusing and time-consuming that can be.

We now automatically reverse those payments back to the customer, keeping everything accurate and reconciled — no action needed on your side. You’ll be notified when this happens.

More flexible refunds

Merchants can now issue multiple partial refunds per deposit (via the API) — rather than being limited to one. More flexibility, less friction!

This will soon be available in the pawaPay Dashboard alongside a redesigned transaction view!

More corridors for Scheduled Settlements

We’ve added support for XAF, XOF, and CDF currencies — so you can now schedule settlements across even more markets.

Supercharging onboarding with AiPrise-powered KYB

We’ve integrated with AiPrise - a leading business verification platform - to enhance how new merchants get verified. The KYB process is now clearer, more intuitive and easier to complete, with better guidance and fewer repetitive steps.

AiPrise has also helped us streamline our internal compliance workflows, with stronger tools for verifying businesses across Africa, spotting risk earlier, and keeping everything secure and audit-ready.

Coming soon: On-request settlements

For merchants who request settlements manually, we’re building a new flow right into the Dashboard — replacing the current support ticket system.

You’ll be able to:

• Choose how much to settle from each country wallet
• See where funds are going
• Track expected send dates
• View your full settlement history in one place

We’ll let you know when this one is live!

Top tip: Make the most the the V2 API

More payment flows, richer data, and a better customer experience — all in one API.
👉 Start with the Upgrade Guide to see what’s changed and how to migrate smoothly.

Thanks for reading — and helping us connect every Mobile Money wallet in Africa!