Mobile money is one of the most popular and accessible methods of transferring funds in The Gambia and across West Africa. Modem Pay supports seamless transfers to major mobile money providers.
Supported Networks
Here are the currently supported mobile money networks on Modem Pay:
| Network | Key (network) | Notes |
|---|
| Africell | afrimoney | Instant transfers supported |
| Wave | wave | Instant transfers supported |
You must specify the correct network value in your transfer request.
Required Fields
For mobile money transfers, you must provide the following in your request:
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|
amount | ✅ | Amount to send |
currency | ✅ | Currency code (e.g., GMD) |
network | ✅ | One of: afrimoney, wave |
account_number | ✅ | Recipient’s mobile wallet number |
beneficiary_name | ✅ | Name of the wallet holder |
narration | ⛔ | Optional transfer note |
metadata | ⛔ | Optional structured data (JSON) |
Initiate Payout
When initiating a transfer, you must provide an Idempotency-Key in the request header. This ensures that if the same request is sent multiple times (for example, due to network issues), only one transfer will be processed. The Idempotency-Key should be a unique value (such as a UUID) for each transfer request.
import ModemPay from "modem-pay";
const modemPay = new ModemPay("sk_test_...");
const response = await modemPay.transfers.initiate({
amount: 100,
currency: "GMD",
network: "afrimoney",
account_number: "7834567",
beneficiary_name: "John Doe",
narration: "Vendor payment for April supplies",
metadata: {
vendor_id: "vendor_001",
invoice_id: "inv_204"
}
}, "Idempotency-Key");
Payout Response
{
"id": "45eb796c-e66a-442f-bba2-d282053f8883",
"events": {},
"business_id": "120c298f-b736-49c1-8220-8a8c84a5d8f3",
"account_id": "199bf17b-0b5a-45c0-a5b0-1d29f5f173c9",
"amount": 100,
"currency": "GMD",
"type": "mobile-money",
"balance_before": 995,
"balance_after": 894,
"transfer_reference": "5Np7iVHrN",
"test_mode": true,
"status": "completed",
"account_name": "John Doe",
"network": "afrimoney",
"mobile_number": "7834567",
"account_number": "7834567",
"note": "Vendor payment for April supplies",
"fee": 1,
"metadata": {
"vendor_id": "vendor_001",
"invoice_id": "inv_204"
},
"updatedAt": "2025-05-05T21:12:52.839Z",
"createdAt": "2025-05-05T21:12:52.839Z",
"merchant_id": null,
"recipient_business_id": null,
"bank": null,
"amount_received": null,
"otp": null
}
Retrieve a Payout
You can fetch the details of a specific transfer using its unique id.
const transfer = await modemPay.transfers.retrieve("45eb796c...");
console.log(transfer.status); // e.g., 'completed'
Fraud Monitoring & Security
Modem Pay automatically monitors all payout transfers for suspicious or anomalous activity. If a transfer triggers our fraud detection systems, it is immediately flagged for review. When this happens:
- You will receive an email notification alerting you to the flagged transfer.
- A
transfer.flagged webhook event will be sent to your configured webhook endpoint.
Important: No further transfers can be made to the affected account number until you review and resolve the flagged issue. This helps protect your business and recipients from potential fraud or misuse. Always investigate flagged transfers promptly to restore normal payout operations.