Amounts and currencies
How Monerails represents money.
Amounts are integers in the minor unit of the currency. Never send decimals: 10.5 is rejected with 400 parameter_invalid.
| Currency | Minor unit | amount: 5000 means |
|---|---|---|
| XAF, XOF, GNF, RWF, UGX | the franc or shilling itself (no decimals) | 5,000 |
| CDF | centime: send whole francs only (multiples of 100) | FC 50 |
| GMD | butut: send whole dalasis only (multiples of 100) | D50 |
| NGN | kobo: send whole naira only (multiples of 100) | ₦50 |
| KES | cent: send whole shillings only (multiples of 100) | KSh 50 |
| GHS | pesewa: send whole cedis only (multiples of 100) | GH₵50 |
| TZS | cent: send whole shillings only (multiples of 100) | TSh 50 |
| USD (cards) | cent | $50.00 |
Mobile money collections, payouts, settlements and payment links in CDF, GMD, NGN, KES, GHS and TZS must be whole units: the amount must be a multiple of 100 (amount: 250000 = KSh 2,500 is accepted, amount: 250050 = KSh 2,500.50 is rejected with 400 amount_invalid). Fees are still computed and reported in minor units, so a balance can hold cents.
Currencies for collections and payouts
| Currency | Collections | Payouts and settlements |
|---|---|---|
XAF (Central Africa: Cameroon, Gabon, Chad, Congo, Central African Republic) |
Yes | Yes |
XOF (West Africa: Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Guinea-Bissau) |
Yes | Yes |
GNF (Guinea), CDF (DR Congo), GMD (Gambia) |
Yes | Yes (mobile money) |
KES, GHS, UGX, TZS, RWF |
Activation in progress: 400 currency_unsupported |
Activation in progress: 400 country_unsupported |
NGN |
Not yet: 400 currency_unsupported |
Activation in progress: 400 country_unsupported |
Which operators are open in each currency comes from List operators.
When you leave out country, Monerails uses the main country of the currency: CM for XAF, SN for XOF, GN for GNF, CD for CDF, GM for GMD, NG for NGN, KE for KES, GH for GHS, UG for UGX, TZ for TZS, RW for RWF. To collect or pay out in Gabon, Chad, Congo or the Central African Republic (XAF), or in Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger or Guinea-Bissau (XOF), send country.
Cards
Cards, card funding and the cards balance are in US dollars, in cents. Your cards balance is separate from your balances in African currencies.
Fees
Fees are in the same currency and unit as the operation:
- Collections: the fee is deducted from what you receive.
net = amount − fee, known once the collection succeeds. - Payouts: the fee is debited from your balance on top of
amount. The recipient receivesamountin full. - Cards: fees are always debited from the card concerned, never from your cards balance. Each fee is a separate transaction of type
card_fee, whosefeefield gives the fee type (processing,issuer_cross_border,maintenance…) and, where relevant, the payment it belongs to. If the card balance is too low, the fee stays due and is collected on the next funding. See Card fees.
Current prices are on monerails.com/pricing.