To accept MTN MoMo and Telecel Cash on a website in Ghana you connect the site to a payment gateway, and the gateway talks to the networks. Paystack publishes 1.95% per local transaction, Flutterwave publishes 2% for Mobile Money, and Hubtel publishes no rate card. The integration itself is included in our Online store tier at GHS 6,000 to 9,000, and this guide explains what it involves, what onboarding asks for, and the one state that most stores handle wrongly.
You do not integrate with MTN. You integrate with a gateway.
MTN and Telecel do offer direct merchant APIs, but for almost every business the practical route is a payment gateway: one integration that gives you MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash, AirtelTigo Money and cards through a single connection, with settlement to your bank account. The gateway carries the network relationships, the compliance and the reconciliation. You carry one integration.
The three gateways most Ghanaian stores use are Paystack, Flutterwave and Hubtel. All three support Mobile Money. They differ on published fees, settlement timing and how much of the process is visible before you sign up.
Published fees, checked directly
Fees are set by the provider and change. These were read from each provider's own page on 11 September 2026, and you should read the current page before launch. A third party roundup is not a source for a fee you will pay on every sale.
| Gateway | Mobile Money | Local cards | International cards | Settlement | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paystack | 1.95% | 1.95% | Not on the Ghana row | Not stated on that page | Paystack support |
| Flutterwave | 2% | 2.6% | 4.8% | Next day, local | Flutterwave Ghana pricing |
| Hubtel | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published | Pricing page asks for a phone number first |
What merchant onboarding asks for
A gateway account is a merchant account, and merchant accounts require paperwork. Hubtel's onboarding, for example, assigns an account manager within a working day, confirms by SMS, operates on business days only, and can ask for a business registration document, a business operating permit and a district assembly licence.
The practical advice is to start onboarding the day the build starts, not the day it finishes. A finished store that cannot take money is a brochure, and the paperwork takes longer than the last week of a build.
Flutterwave's pricing page also notes two things worth deciding early: prices exclude VAT, and by default the customer bears the transaction charge. Whether you pass the fee on or absorb it is a business decision, and the checkout has to be built for whichever you choose.
How the integration works
The shape is the same on every gateway. The customer chooses Mobile Money at checkout and enters their number. The site asks the gateway to request payment. The customer's phone prompts them to approve, with their PIN. The gateway tells the site the result, usually by a callback to a URL on your server called a webhook, and the site records the order and tells the customer.
Two things make the difference between an integration that works and one that loses money. The webhook must be verified, so that the site only trusts a payment confirmation that genuinely came from the gateway and not from anyone who found the URL. And the site must handle every outcome, not just success.
The pending state, which is where stores go wrong
A card payment succeeds or fails. A Mobile Money payment has a third outcome: pending. The customer has approved on their phone, but the network has not yet confirmed, and that can take seconds or, on a bad day, minutes.
A store that treats pending as failed shows the customer an error, the customer tries again, and now they have paid twice or given up. A store that treats pending as paid ships an unpaid order. The correct behaviour is to tell the customer honestly that the payment is being confirmed, keep checking with the gateway, and complete the order only on confirmation, with a timeout after which the customer is told what to do.
That logic is engineering, and it is the reason an online store costs more than a brochure with a buy button. It is inside our Online store tier, and what an online store really costs explains the rest of the difference.
What to ask whoever builds it
Which gateway, and why. Whether webhooks are verified. What the customer sees when a payment is pending. What happens when the same order is paid twice. Whether refunds are handled through the site or by hand. Where settlement lands and how it is reconciled against orders.
A builder with specific answers has done this before. The price list states what our store tier includes on each of those, and the ten questions to ask any web design company cover the rest.
Accepting MTN MoMo and Telecel Cash on a website means one gateway integration, with published fees of roughly 2% per local transaction at the providers that publish them, merchant paperwork that should start on day one, a verified webhook, and correct handling of the pending state. The last item is where most stores lose money and it is the part worth paying for.
How do I add MTN MoMo to my website?
Through a payment gateway such as Paystack, Flutterwave or Hubtel. The gateway provides MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash and cards through one integration. The site requests a payment, the customer approves on their phone, and the gateway confirms to the site by a verified webhook.
What are Mobile Money transaction fees for websites in Ghana?
Paystack publishes 1.95% per local transaction including Mobile Money. Flutterwave publishes 2% for Mobile Money and 2.6% for local cards. Hubtel does not publish a rate card. Fees change, so read the provider's own current page before launch.
How long does Mobile Money settlement take?
Flutterwave states next day for local payments. Paystack's country pricing page does not state settlement timing. Confirm with the provider, because settlement timing affects your cash flow more than the fee does.
What documents do I need for a payment gateway in Ghana?
It varies by gateway. Hubtel, for example, can ask for a business registration document, a business operating permit and a district assembly licence, and assigns an account manager within a working day. Start the process when the build starts.
Why did my customer's MoMo payment show as failed when they paid?
Almost always because the site treated the pending state as a failure. Mobile Money payments can sit in pending while the network confirms, and a correctly built store waits, checks with the gateway and completes the order only on confirmation.
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