INM / Products / Gateway / PaymentGateway
Gateway to domestic payment networks
Modular architecture connecting banks, utilities and merchants to national payment networks, so end customers can pay by reference - or by recharge, direct deposit and QR code - without each network requiring changes to the platform's core.
WHAT IT IS
PaymentGateway is a payment engine that connects banks and other entities - utilities, merchants - to national payment networks and payment service providers. It lets end customers pay by reference (entity + reference + amount), by recharge or voucher, by direct account deposit, or by merchant QR code. It runs on a modular three-component architecture - Core, Flow and Channel - in production since 2014. The architecture carries no assumption about which market it lands in. Each national network plugs in as its own Flow, and the bank's core - Banka, Finastra Essence, something built in-house - is simply one more adapter.
Numbers from architecture in production, not sales projections.
WHY IT MATTERS
One integration, many rails: the Core handles authentication, transactions and billing; each payment network plugs in as a standalone Flow with its own business logic; channels (app, branch, agent) consume it all through a single API. Adding a new rail doesn't touch what's already in production.
ADVANTAGES
The Core centralises authentication, transactions, the commercial tree and billing; channels and payment networks register with it instead of connecting to each other.
Each payment network is a standalone Flow with its own API; adding or replacing one doesn't change the core or the channels already in production.
The entity + reference + amount model sits at the centre of the architecture, ready to replicate in any market with an equivalent network.
Recharge/voucher, direct deposit and merchant QR code or widget payments run on the same platform, with the same channel logic and the same billing.
FEATURES
Reference-based payment: accepts payment requests with entity, reference and amount, replicating the model used by national payment networks.
Modular architecture (Core, Flow, Channel): each new payment rail or channel registers independently, without changing the core.
Recharges and vouchers: processes mobile recharges and service vouchers for multiple operators and providers.
Direct deposit and transfers: supports direct account deposit and transfer of funds between account holders.
Merchant QR code payments: generates QR codes per merchant and per acceptance point, with onboarding and real-time payment initiation, inquiry and refund.
Centralised authentication and authorization: a single component handles channel authentication, financial transactions and channel-specific authorization.
Commercial tree and billing: allows querying the commercial structure (distributor → entities) and generating billing tied to transactions.
Real-time monitoring dashboard: transaction tracking and operational alerts.
BUILT FOR
A channel for end customers to pay services by reference and top up accounts or operators, with no new development per network.
The Core manages the distributor → entities commercial tree and the billing between them, in a single transaction record.
Connects a service operator - electricity, water, telecom - to the national payment network for prepaid recharges and bills for its customers.
QR code or embedded widget payments, with merchant onboarding, status validation and real-time settlement.
HOW IT WORKS
The component that encapsulates a specific payment provider or network registers with the Core, becoming available in the list of supported payments.
The channel - app, branch, agent - registers with the Core, reporting which Flows it implements and activating channel-specific authorization.
The end customer initiates a payment through the channel - by reference, QR code or recharge - authenticated and authorised via the Core.
The Flow communicates in real time with the network or provider to confirm the payment; the Core records the financial transaction and associated billing.
It's a payment engine that connects banks and other entities to national payment networks and payment service providers, enabling payments by reference, recharge/voucher, direct deposit, or merchant QR code.
Yes. The core connection is adapter-based - Banka, Finastra Essence, an in-house legacy system, whatever is already there - over API/ISO, with no change to the central system. The domestic side works the same way: each market's clearing house, EMIS in Angola included, plugs in through an adapter.
Both. Banks in markets with data-residency requirements usually choose on-premise; SaaS where regulation allows it.
No. It sits as an integration layer between the bank's channels, national payment networks and payment service providers, through the Core/Flow/Channel architecture. Whatever core is already in production stays exactly where it is, and each new network is added without disturbing what is live.
INM's own teams - we don't subcontract implementation. The same team runs, evolves and supports the product 24/7 after go-live.
Talk to our team to see how this product fits your ecosystem.