How to Integrate STK Push for Bank Paybills Using Pay Hero

The Payment Challenge for Kenyan Businesses

In today’s digital economy, smooth payment processes are no longer a luxury but a necessity. Many Kenyan businesses rely on bank paybills and tills for their daily transactions, appreciating how these tools allow funds to flow directly into their bank accounts without intermediary steps. But there’s a catch: unlike Safaricom-issued paybills that support M-Pesa Express functionality, bank-issued paybills cannot initiate STK push requests or send payment prompts to customers.

This limitation creates significant friction in the payment journey:

• Customers must manually navigate through multiple M-Pesa menu steps
• Businesses can’t integrate seamless checkout experiences on their websites
• Payment verification becomes a manual, error-prone process
• Online businesses lose out on conversion rates when customers abandon complex payment flows

The result? Frustrated customers, lost sales, and business operations bogged down by payment inefficiencies.

Introducing PayHero: The Bridge Between Bank Paybills and Modern Payment Experiences

Pay Hero has developed an innovative solution that eliminates this payment disconnect. By creating a technological bridge between bank pay bills and Safaricom’s M-Pesa infrastructure, Pay Hero enables businesses to enjoy the best of both worlds: direct bank deposits AND seamless payment experiences.

Key Benefits of PayHero’s Solution:

1. Retain Your Existing Bank Paybill: No need to change your payment collection methods or banking relationships
2. Enable STK Push: Trigger payment prompts directly to your customers’ phones
3. Streamline Online Checkouts: Integrate simple payment flows on your website
4. Automate Payment Verification: Receive real-time confirmations when payments are made
5. Increase Conversion Rates: Reduce payment friction and abandoned transactions

How to Integrate STK Push for Your Bank Paybill

Getting started with PayHero is straightforward. Follow these steps to transform your bank paybill into a modern payment powerhouse:

1. Register Your Paybill with PayHero

Sign up for a Pay Hero account at app.payhero.co.ke and register your bank pay bill details. The registration process typically takes less than 10 minutes and requires:

• Your business details
• Bank paybill number
• Bank account information
• Verification documents

2. Choose Your Integration Method

Pay Hero offers multiple ways to start accepting payments:

Option A: Lipwa Link

The fastest way to get started is with Pay Hero’s Lipwa link – a customized payment link you can share with customers via SMS, WhatsApp, email, or social media. When customers click this link, they’ll receive an STK push prompt to complete payment to your bank pay bill.

Option B: Developer API Integration

For businesses looking to build payment functionality directly into their websites or apps, Pay Hero provides comprehensive APIs that handle the entire payment flow. The API documentation includes:

• Authentication protocols
• Endpoint specifications
• Request/response formats
• Webhook configurations
• Sample code in multiple languages (PHP, JavaScript, Python)

3. Test Your Integration

Before going live, thoroughly test your integration .

4. Go Live

Once testing is complete, switch to production mode and start accepting real payments through your enhanced bank paybill.

Real-World Example: How Fashion Retailers Increased Sales by 37%

Fashion Hub, an online clothing retailer in Nairobi, previously used a bank paybill for all their transactions. Customers needed to manually enter the paybill number, account number, and amount when making purchases – a tedious process that resulted in a 25% cart abandonment rate.

After integrating with PayHero, Fashion Hub embedded payment buttons on their product pages that triggered STK push requests directly to customers’ phones. The results were impressive:

• Cart abandonment rate dropped from 25% to 8%
• Overall sales increased by 37%
• Customer service inquiries about payment issues decreased by 63%
• Administrative time spent reconciling payments reduced by 15 hours weekly

Technical Implementation for Developers

For technical teams looking to implement Pay Hero’s solution, checkout our developer documentation below

Webhook Integration for Payment Notifications

To receive real-time updates when payments are completed, configure webhook endpoints in your Pay Hero dashboard or request body. Pay Hero will send POST requests to your specified URL with transaction details whenever a payment status changes.

Best Practices for Bank Paybill STK Integration

To maximize the benefits of your PayHero integration:

1. Clearly Display Payment Instructions: Even with STK push, always include clear payment details (paybill number, account reference) for customers who prefer manual payments.
2. Implement Timeout Handling: Configure your system to handle cases where customers don’t respond to STK prompts within the standard timeframe (usually 2 minutes).
3. Set Up Payment Retries: Allow customers to request a new STK push if they miss the first one or if it expires.
4. Test Across Different Networks: While most customers use Safaricom, ensure your payment flow accounts for customers who might be switching between networks.
5. Implement Comprehensive Reconciliation: Use PayHero’s reporting tools to automatically match payments with orders in your system.

Conclusion: Transform Your Bank Paybill into a Modern Payment Powerhouse

The ability to initiate STK push requests through bank pay bills represents a significant advancement for Kenyan businesses. With Pay Hero’s solution, you no longer need to choose between the security of bank pay bills and the convenience of M-Pesa Express features.

By bridging this gap, PayHero helps businesses:

• Improve customer experiences
• Increase conversion rates
• Streamline payment operations
• Enhance financial record-keeping

Start your journey toward seamless payments today by registering your bank paybill with Pay Hero. Your customers—and your bottom line—will thank you.

Ready to transform your bank paybill into a modern payment powerhouse? Sign up for Pay Hero today and start enjoying the benefits of STK push functionality with your existing bank paybill.