Payments Blog

How to Accept Card Payments

Whether you sell online, operate a retail store, or are an established enterprise, card payments help you grow your revenue by providing customers with payment options they love to use for shopping.

For instance, at Pesapal, we’ve witnessed thousands of businesses increase revenue simply by adding card payments as an option. Card payments account for a significant share of both online and in-person transactions in Kenya and across East Africa. In 2024, Kenya recorded a total of 59 million card transactions on point-of-sale machines alone, according to the Central Bank of Kenya. Find the report here. This indicates that if your business does not accept card payments, you are leaving money on the table.

Here’s a walk-through on how to accept card payments:

• Online
• In person

How to Accept Card Payments Online

To accept credit card payments online or in person, you first need to choose a payment processor or merchant service. If your provider doesn’t include a merchant account, you’ll need to open one. Look for solutions that fit your needs. Pesapal offers full-service tools that integrate with your existing systems.

If you want to accept card payments online, here’s what you’ll need:

1. A digital storefront - This could be your website, an eCommerce platform like Shopify, or an ordering site if you offer such services. If you don't have a website, don’t worry - Pesapal’s payment links may be good for you.
2. A payment gateway - This is where customers securely enter their card details. With Pesapal, your gateway is built in and PCI-DSS compliant, so you don’t have to handle sensitive data yourself.
3. A payment processor connects to banks, verifies transactions, and transfers the money to your account. Pesapal combines the payment gateway and processing into one seamless solution.

After integrating Pesapal, your customers can pay using Visa, Mastercard cards, and mobile money, all in a single checkout.

How to Accept Card Payments In-Person

To accept in-person card payments, you’ll need a POS machine and may also require a POS system. Our salesperson will help you determine the right hardware for your business setup.

If you serve customers face-to-face, you’ll need:

• POS machine: We offer both smart Android POS machines and connected POS machines for retail stores and mini-POS card terminals for on-the-go businesses like food trucks or home services.
• Point-of-Sale (POS) system: RACK POS system lets you process card, mobile money, and cash payments from one device.

With the Pesapal POS machine, you can accept chip-and-PIN cards, contactless cards, and mobile money wallets. You’ll also be able to track sales, issue receipts, and even manage inventory.

Benefits of Accepting Card Payments

Adding card payments to your business comes with several advantages:

1. Increased Sales – Customers often spend more with a card than they would with cash, allowing you to capture more impulse purchases and online orders.
2. Improved Customer Experience – by offering multiple payment options in-store and online, you make it easy for customers to shop the way they prefer.
3. Increased Credibility – customers trust businesses that accept cards, and professional receipts with branded payment experiences strengthen your brand image.
4. Improved Security – by reducing cash handling and theft risks, you benefit from bank-grade fraud detection and PCI-DSS compliance with Pesapal.
5. Global Reach – you can accept payments from international customers without currency hassles, as Pesapal handles conversion for seamless cross-border sales.

Whether you sell online, in a physical store, Pesapal makes it easy to accept card payments in minutes. You’ll get one platform for Visa, Mastercard, and local mobile money all in a secure, seamless system.