How to set up M-Pesa STK push for your business

Most small businesses in Kenya collect M-Pesa the manual way: send the customer a paybill number and account reference, wait, then ask them to read back the confirmation code so you can check it off. It works, but it is slow, it invites typos, and reconciling it at the end of the day is its own job.

STK push replaces that. You enter the amount and the customer's number, and a payment prompt appears on their phone. They enter their M-Pesa PIN and the payment is confirmed back to you automatically. No reference code to read out, nothing to reconcile by hand.

This guide covers connecting Safaricom's Daraja API to ClusterBox. If you use Kopokopo instead, the setup is different but the result is the same — see the comparison at the end.

What you need before you start

• An M-Pesa paybill or till number registered to your business.
• A Safaricom Daraja developer account, with your paybill or till linked to it.
• Your Daraja app credentials: consumer key, consumer secret, and passkey.
• Admin access to your ClusterBox workspace. Payment provider settings are restricted to workspace admins, because those rows hold your provider credentials.

Step 1 — Get your Daraja credentials

1. 1Sign in to the Safaricom Daraja developer portal and open your app.
2. 2Copy the Consumer Key and Consumer Secret from the app's credentials page.
3. 3Find your Lipa Na M-Pesa Online passkey. This is separate from the consumer secret, and it is the one people most often miss.
4. 4Note your shortcode — your paybill number, or your till number if you are on Buy Goods.

Step 2 — Add the provider in ClusterBox

Payment providers are configured on the web dashboard, not in the mobile app. Open your ClusterBox dashboard and go to Payment providers, then add a provider and choose M-Pesa (Daraja).

Step 3 — Whitelist your callback URL

Once you save the provider, ClusterBox shows you a callback URL. This is the address Safaricom sends the payment result to — without it, the customer can pay and your order will never update.

1. 1Copy the callback URL from the provider page in ClusterBox.
2. 2In the Daraja portal, add it to your app as the confirmation and validation URL.
3. 3Back in ClusterBox, use Register C2B. This registers those URLs with Safaricom for your shortcode so incoming payments are confirmed back to your workspace.

Step 4 — Collect a payment

Collection happens in the ClusterBox mobile app, where you are already working through orders. Open an order and choose to collect payment.

1. 1Pick the provider you just connected.
2. 2Enter the amount and the customer's phone number.
3. 3Send the request. The customer gets the M-Pesa prompt on their phone.
4. 4Watch it move to paid — or fail, if they cancel or the PIN times out.

Recording a payment by hand still works exactly as before. STK push is for when you would rather the customer just paid on the spot, while you have their attention.

When it does not work

If you have worked through those and it still will not connect, message us on WhatsApp at +254 724 433585 and we will set it up with you. It usually takes about ten minutes.