Most software on the internet assumes you have a dollar card. If you are in Lagos, Nairobi, Accra or Johannesburg you may have one, but it may be limited to a few dollars a month, it may fail on foreign sites, and the bank may charge a conversion fee on top. You should not need it. This post explains how to pay with bank transfer, USSD, M-Pesa and mobile money for online tools like Humanize 360, what each method costs and how long it takes, and what to do when the money leaves your account but the product does not arrive.
Why local rails exist
Payment processors such as Paystack and Flutterwave sit between a website and your bank or mobile wallet. The website never sees your account details; the processor collects the payment in your currency and tells the website "paid" through a signed message called a webhook. That is why a good site can credit you within seconds of a transfer landing, and why prices can be set in naira, cedi, shilling or rand instead of being converted from dollars at checkout with a margin added.
At Humanize 360 every price is set directly in local currency. The Starter pack shown as ₦1,500 in Nigeria is ₦1,500, not "$1.99 converted at today's rate plus a fee".
Bank transfer (Nigeria)
How it works. At checkout you choose "Bank transfer". The processor shows a one-time account number at a partner bank. You transfer the exact amount from your banking app or USSD. When the transfer lands, the webhook fires and your words are credited.
Time. Usually under two minutes. Interbank delays at month-end or on public holidays can stretch this to fifteen.
Cost. Your bank's normal transfer fee, typically 10 to 50 naira. Nothing extra from us.
Watch out for. Paying a different amount (the processor may not match it), and reusing an old account number from a previous purchase; each checkout gets a fresh one.
USSD (Nigeria, Ghana)
How it works. Choose "USSD", pick your bank, and the checkout shows a short dial code. Dial it on the phone linked to your account, approve with your PIN, done. No internet needed on the phone that pays.
Time. Near-instant once approved.
Cost. Your bank's USSD session fee, usually around 6.98 naira per session in Nigeria.
Watch out for. Dialling from a number not linked to the account, and codes expiring after a few minutes. If the code expires, go back and generate a new one.
M-Pesa (Kenya, Tanzania)
How it works. Choose "M-Pesa" and enter your phone number. An STK push appears on your phone asking you to confirm the amount and enter your M-Pesa PIN. Confirm, and the processor reports the payment.
Time. Usually under a minute.
Cost. Standard Lipa na M-Pesa charges, paid by the merchant in most integrations, so you pay the listed price.
Watch out for. The push not arriving because the phone has no signal, or a daily limit being reached. You can also pay manually through the Lipa na M-Pesa menu with the till number shown.
Mobile money (Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia)
MTN MoMo, Vodafone Cash, AirtelTigo Money and their equivalents work the same way as M-Pesa: enter your number, approve on your phone. Approval prompts on MTN sometimes need you to dial the network's approval code if the pop-up is missed; the checkout page tells you which.
Cards, for completeness
Local Verve, Visa and Mastercard debit cards work through the same processors and are charged in your currency, so the "international transaction" block on many Nigerian cards does not apply. If your card fails, it is almost always the bank's online-payment switch being off; turn it on in your banking app or use transfer instead.
When the money left but nothing arrived
It happens, usually because a webhook was delayed. Here is the order to try:
- Wait five minutes and refresh your wallet. Most late payments settle on their own.
- Check the transaction page in your account. A payment that shows "pending" is being verified; "failed" means the processor never confirmed it and any debit will reverse within 24 hours by your bank's rules.
- Use "verify payment" on the pending transaction. This asks the processor directly and credits you if it confirms.
- Contact support with the reference. Every checkout has a reference code; send it through the contact page or the in-app ticket and a person will look it up. Our response target is 24 hours on working days, and payment issues go to the front of the queue.
You never need to pay twice. If a duplicate somehow happens, tell us and we refund the second payment.
Refunds in local currency
Refunds go back by the same rail they came in. A transfer refund lands in the account that paid; an M-Pesa refund goes to the same number. Every first purchase on Humanize 360 carries a seven-day money-back guarantee, and the refund policy sets out the rest.
Choosing between them
- Cheapest: bank transfer in Nigeria, M-Pesa in Kenya.
- Fastest to approve: USSD and M-Pesa, because you approve on the phone in your hand.
- No smartphone: USSD.
- Paying for someone else: bank transfer, since you only need the one-time account number.
Whichever you choose, the pricing page shows the price in your currency before you start, and the free tier lets you try the tool on 300 words before you pay anyone anything.
Common questions
Is bank transfer safe for a website I have not used before? The one-time account number belongs to the payment processor, not to us, and it only accepts the amount shown. Try the free tier first, then buy the smallest pack to see the flow end to end.
Why did my card work on one site and fail here? Most Nigerian banks switch online payments off by default and let you enable them in the app. Once enabled, local cards work through Paystack and Flutterwave without the international-transaction block.
Can my company pay by invoice? Yes, for enterprise and reseller accounts. Invoices are issued in your currency and the words are credited when the transfer lands.
Do I get a receipt? Every payment produces a receipt in your account and by email, with the reference, amount, currency and what was bought, which is enough for most expense claims.