The Fortpesa for WooCommerce plugin adds an M-Pesa payment option at checkout. Your customer picks M-Pesa, approves the STK push on their phone, and the order updates to Processing automatically — with a signed webhook confirming the payment.

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What you need

  • WordPress 6.0+ with WooCommerce 7.0+
  • PHP 7.4+ on your hosting
  • Store currency set to KES — the M-Pesa option only shows at checkout for Kenyan shillings
  • A Fortpesa account with an approved payment channel
1

Install the plugin

Download the plugin ZIP, then in WordPress go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose fortpesa-for-woocommerce.zip, then Install Now and Activate.
2

Get your Fortpesa details

In your Fortpesa dashboard, create an API key under Settings → API keys and copy it right away — it is shown only once. Then note your Channel ID from Channels (the Channel ID column on the channels list).
Keep the API key on your server only — never in client-side code. If you lose the key, revoke it and create a new one.
3

Add the webhook

In Fortpesa go to Settings → Webhooks and add:
Copy the whsec_… secret it gives you — you will paste it into the plugin next.
4

Configure the plugin

Go to WooCommerce → Settings → Payments → Fortpesa. Paste the API key, Channel ID and webhook secret, tick Enable, and save.Optional: under Customer experience set your brand colour, business name and receipt footer.
5

Test with a small order

Place a small real order (KES 10 or so) and approve the prompt on your phone. The order should turn Processing and a receipt should appear.

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Good to know

  • The M-Pesa option only shows at checkout when the currency is KES and the API key and Channel ID are filled in.
  • If an order looks stuck, open it and choose Check Fortpesa payment status from the order actions.
  • Errors are logged under WooCommerce → Status → Logs (source fortpesa). Turn on Debug log in the plugin settings for more detail.
  • Make sure your Fortpesa wallet has enough credit, otherwise payment requests will fail with 402 INSUFFICIENT_CREDIT.
The webhook URL must be reachable from the internet — the plugin confirms orders from the signed webhook and from Check Fortpesa payment status. Without either, an order stays pending even after a successful payment.