Jenga Payment Gateway

Jenga Payment Gateway: Merchant Overview

Jenga is a payment acceptance product that helps merchants collect online payments using a mix of cards, mobile money, and bank-account based rails. It is operated by Finserve Africa Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Plc, and is positioned for merchants serving customers in East and Central Africa while also supporting card payments from a broad set of international markets.

Jenga Payment Gateway At A Glance

Jenga Payment Gateway is a cloud-hosted payment gateway designed for eCommerce and mobile commerce. It aggregates multiple payment channels behind one integration and provides a checkout experience that can be branded for desktop and mobile. Merchants can integrate using hosted checkout and APIs, and can also use a WooCommerce plugin for faster setup on compatible stores.

Key themes in the product positioning include:

• Card acceptance for international customers across 180+ countries
• Mobile money collection for regional customers
• Bank-account based payment options for customers using supported banks
• Multi-currency acceptance for supported currencies

Who Jenga Is For

Jenga is oriented to merchants that need to:

• Accept payments on an eCommerce website
• Accept payments in mobile apps (mCommerce)
• Offer local payment methods alongside international card schemes
• Operate across multiple East and Central African markets, while still enabling card payments for customers outside the region

Payment Acceptance Channels

Jenga Payment Gateway supports web and mobile acceptance patterns:

• Web (eCommerce): Cloud-hosted checkout integrated into a merchant website.
• Mobile (mCommerce): SDK-based or API-based flows for native app payments and mobile money collection.
• Plugin-Based Checkout: A WooCommerce plugin path for merchants running compatible store setups.

Supported Payment Methods And Currencies

Cards

Jenga supports card payments across the following schemes:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• American Express
• UnionPay
• JCB
• Diners Club

For web checkout flows that use a redirect-based method, Jenga supports 3D Secure authentication for cards to add issuer verification where available.

Mobile Money

Jenga supports mobile money payments through providers referenced for Kenya and supported merchant setups, including:

• M-Pesa
• Equitel
• Airtel

Mobile money acceptance is positioned as a way to reduce the complexity of integrating multiple wallets and telcos by consolidating them behind one integration path.

Bank Account Payments

Jenga supports bank-account based payments, with current availability explicitly referenced for Equity Bank customers in the supported payment method list. This path is positioned for scenarios where merchants want bank-transfer based collection, including larger-value payments.

Supported Currencies

Jenga Payment Gateway supports the following currencies:

• KES
• TZS
• UGX
• USD
• EUR
• GPB

Checkout Options And Integration Models

Hosted Checkout And Web Integration

Jenga Payment Gateway is hosted in the cloud. Merchants integrate it into websites by including the provided resource files and using the gateway’s checkout flow to collect payments through the available channels.

Mobile SDKs

Jenga provides an Android Checkout SDK for native Android app integrations. Documentation sections also exist for iOS, Flutter, and React Native SDKs, but some of those SDK pages are marked as under construction, so the Android SDK is the most concretely documented path in the Checkout SDK set.

Payment Links

Jenga supports a “payment link” flow via API where merchants can generate payment links programmatically and send them to customers using notification methods such as SMS or email. This can be useful when a merchant needs to collect payments outside a standard cart checkout, such as for invoices or ad hoc charges.

Webhooks And Status Notifications

Jenga supports Instant Payment Notifications (IPN) that allow a merchant to set a callback URL and receive notifications for payment outcomes. Notifications can be configured to include both failed and successful transactions, or only successful transactions.

Authentication And Environments

Jenga uses bearer authentication via JSON Web Tokens for API access. The platform also supports test and production environments, with separate test (UAT) and live endpoints shown across relevant API examples.

Security And Compliance

PCI DSS

Jenga states PCI DSS Level 1 compliance as part of its security positioning for the payment gateway.

3D Secure

Jenga supports 3D Secure card payments in web checkout flows using a redirect-based method, enabling issuer authentication where supported by the card and issuer.

Data Handling And Encryption

For direct card-processing flows referenced in MPGS direct integration examples, sensitive fields like card number and card security value are handled using AES encryption and then base64-encoding the cipher text in the integration pattern described.

Risk Controls And Disputes

Jenga positions fraud and chargeback reduction as part of its value proposition, including an inbuilt fraud service described as using machine learning to detect and block fraud and reduce chargeback exposure.

From an operational perspective, the merchant agreement also establishes how disputes and reversals are treated, including:

• Disputes initiated by customers through financial service providers or networks (including chargebacks)
• Reversals for invalid or unauthorized charges, or charges submitted in violation of network rules

Onboarding, Underwriting, And Account Requirements

Merchants must register and create a Jenga PGW account before using the services. The agreement describes a “mock” or “test” mode that can apply prior to full approval, and notes that settlement may be withheld in that mode.

Finserve may also request additional information at onboarding or during the relationship to verify beneficial ownership, validate merchant information, verify identity, and assess business risk. Examples of requested documentation include invoices, government-issued identification, and business licenses. Failure to provide requested information can result in suspension or termination.

Conclusion

Jenga Payment Gateway is a cloud-hosted payment acceptance solution operated by Finserve Africa that focuses on enabling merchants to collect payments via cards, mobile money, and bank-account based options. It supports international card schemes and positions itself for merchants selling into East and Central Africa, with card acceptance extending across 180+ countries and multi-currency support for listed currencies.