Currency Handling in Paystack: NGN, GHS, ZAR, KES and USD

Paystack processes payments in five currencies, each tied to a specific market:

• NGN (Nigerian Naira): The original and most feature-complete Paystack market. Supports card, bank transfer, USSD, QR, and dedicated virtual accounts.
• GHS (Ghanaian Cedi): Supports card and mobile money. Mobile money is the dominant payment method in Ghana.
• ZAR (South African Rand): Supports card payments. The South African market has high card adoption.
• KES (Kenyan Shilling): Supports card and M-Pesa integration. M-Pesa is the dominant payment channel in Kenya.
• USD (US Dollar): Available on some Paystack accounts, primarily for international collections. Payment channels are typically card-only.

The currencies available on your account depend on where your business is registered and what Paystack has enabled. A Nigerian-registered business gets NGN by default. To accept GHS, you would typically need a Ghana-registered entity or request multi-currency activation from Paystack. Check your dashboard under Settings to see which currencies are active on your account.

Pass the currency field when calling /transaction/initialize:

// Initialize a transaction in GHS
var response = await fetch('https://api.paystack.co/transaction/initialize', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    Authorization: 'Bearer ' + process.env.PAYSTACK_SECRET_KEY,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    email: 'customer@example.com',
    amount: 50000,       // 500 GHS in pesewas
    currency: 'GHS',     // Explicitly set the currency
    callback_url: 'https://yoursite.com/payment/callback',
  }),
});

If you omit the currency field, Paystack uses your account's primary currency. For a Nigerian account, this means NGN. If your customer selected GHS and you forgot to pass it, the customer gets charged in Naira. The amount 50000 becomes 500 NGN instead of 500 GHS. This mismatch is silent from the API's perspective. The transaction initializes and processes without error. You only discover the problem when the customer complains or when reconciliation reveals the discrepancy.

Rule: always pass currency explicitly, even if your application only supports one currency today. It makes your code self-documenting and protects you if you add currencies later.

Not all payment channels are available in all currencies. Here is the general landscape:

Channel	NGN	GHS	ZAR	KES	USD
Card (Visa/Mastercard)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bank Transfer	Yes	No	No	No	No
USSD	Yes	No	No	No	No
Mobile Money	No	Yes	No	No	No
QR	Yes	No	No	No	No
Dedicated Virtual Accounts	Yes	No	No	No	No
Apple Pay	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

This table reflects the general availability. Paystack may enable or restrict channels based on your account type and business category. Always check your dashboard or contact Paystack support for your specific account's channel availability.

When you restrict channels with the channels parameter, only pass channels that are available for the transaction's currency. If you pass channels: ['mobile_money'] for an NGN transaction, the checkout will have no valid payment option and the customer will be stuck. For more on channel restriction, see restricting payment channels at checkout.

If your application serves customers in multiple countries, you need to select the right currency based on the customer's location or preference. Here is a pattern that handles this cleanly:

// Currency configuration by country
var currencyConfig = {
  NG: { code: 'NGN', channels: ['card', 'bank_transfer', 'ussd'] },
  GH: { code: 'GHS', channels: ['card', 'mobile_money'] },
  ZA: { code: 'ZAR', channels: ['card'] },
  KE: { code: 'KES', channels: ['card'] },
};

app.post('/api/pay', async function(req, res) {
  var country = req.body.country; // 'NG', 'GH', 'ZA', 'KE'
  var config = currencyConfig[country];

  if (!config) {
    return res.status(400).json({ error: 'Unsupported country' });
  }

  var response = await fetch('https://api.paystack.co/transaction/initialize', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      Authorization: 'Bearer ' + process.env.PAYSTACK_SECRET_KEY,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      email: req.body.email,
      amount: Math.round(req.body.displayAmount * 100),
      currency: config.code,
      channels: config.channels,
      callback_url: 'https://yoursite.com/payment/callback',
    }),
  });

  var data = await response.json();
  res.json(data.data);
});

This pattern ensures the currency and available channels always match. A Ghanaian customer sees card and mobile money options. A Nigerian customer sees card, bank transfer, and USSD. No one sees a channel that does not work for their currency.

When you verify a transaction, check the currency field alongside the amount and status:

app.get('/payment/callback', async function(req, res) {
  var reference = req.query.reference;
  var order = await db.orders.findByReference(reference);

  var verifyResponse = await fetch(
    'https://api.paystack.co/transaction/verify/' + reference,
    {
      headers: {
        Authorization: 'Bearer ' + process.env.PAYSTACK_SECRET_KEY,
      },
    }
  );

  var data = await verifyResponse.json();
  var tx = data.data;

  // Verify ALL three: status, amount, and currency
  var amountMatch = tx.amount === order.amount_minor;
  var currencyMatch = tx.currency === order.currency;
  var statusMatch = tx.status === 'success';

  if (statusMatch && amountMatch && currencyMatch) {
    await fulfillOrder(order.id);
    res.redirect('/order/success');
  } else {
    console.log('Verification failed:');
    console.log('  Status: ' + tx.status + ' (expected success)');
    console.log('  Amount: ' + tx.amount + ' (expected ' + order.amount_minor + ')');
    console.log('  Currency: ' + tx.currency + ' (expected ' + order.currency + ')');
    res.redirect('/order/failed');
  }
});

Why check the currency? Because 500000 kobo (5,000 NGN) and 500000 cents (5,000 USD) are very different amounts. If an attacker manages to initialize a transaction in NGN for a price listed in USD, the amount integer matches but the real value is off by orders of magnitude. The currency check catches this.

The same applies to webhook handlers. The charge.success webhook payload includes both amount and currency. Verify both.

Settlement timelines and procedures differ by currency and market. While the exact details depend on your account configuration and Paystack's current policies (which change over time), here are general patterns engineers should know:

• NGN settlements: Typically settle to your Nigerian bank account. The standard cycle is next business day (T+1) for most businesses.
• GHS settlements: Settle to your Ghanaian bank account. Settlement cycles may differ from NGN.
• ZAR settlements: Settle to your South African bank account.
• KES settlements: Settle to your Kenyan bank account.
• USD settlements: Settlement details depend on your account setup. Some accounts receive USD settlements; others have USD converted to local currency before settlement.

From an engineering perspective, the key thing to understand is that settlement is not the same as payment success. A payment can succeed (charge.success) and the money can take hours or days to reach your bank account. Your system should grant value to the customer when the payment succeeds, not when the settlement arrives. For more on settlement timelines, see settlement timelines and what engineers should assume.

Mistake 1: Hardcoding NGN when your app supports multiple currencies

Early in development, you might hardcode currency: 'NGN' and forget to make it dynamic. When you launch in Ghana, Ghanaian customers get charged in Naira. Always pull the currency from the order or customer context.

Mistake 2: Displaying one currency and charging another

Your frontend shows "GH¢ 500" but your server sends currency: 'NGN', amount: 50000. The customer pays 500 NGN instead of 500 GHS. The amount integer looks the same but the currencies are different. Always derive the currency from the same source as the display price.

Mistake 3: Assuming all channels work for all currencies

If you pass channels: ['bank_transfer'] for a GHS transaction, the checkout shows no payment options. Bank transfer is only available for NGN. Check channel availability for each currency before restricting channels.

Mistake 4: Not handling currency in refunds

Refunds are processed in the same currency as the original transaction. You cannot charge in NGN and refund in GHS. The refund amount is in the same smallest unit as the charge.

Paystack continues to expand into new markets and may add new currencies or payment channels. We update these guides as things change.

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