MTN Developer API

Name: MTN Developer API API
Brand: MTN Developer API
Availability: InStock

✓ Official Vendor SpecCommunicationsSms MessagingapiKey7 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Take MTN Mobile Money payments, send SMS to MTN subscribers, and look up customer or account data across MTN's African mobile network through one API.

Connect the MTN Developer API to your agent

Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the MTN Developer API, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.

Install Jentic One Beta (Self-Hosted)

Jentic One Host machine

# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh

Agent machine

# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh
jentic register       # connects your agent to your Jentic One instance

Jentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with MTN Developer API API.

Initiate an MTN Mobile Money collection from a subscriber via POST /payments/request

Check the state of a payment using its referenceId via GET /payments/{referenceId}

Push funds out to a recipient wallet via POST /transfer

Send a transactional SMS to an MTN subscriber via POST /messages/send

GET STARTED

Start building with MTN Developer API API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

MTN Group's developer API surfaces core mobile network capabilities — mobile money payments, messaging, customer profile lookups, and account balance — across MTN's African operating units. Fintech and consumer apps use it to take MTN Mobile Money payments, send transactional SMS to MTN subscribers, and verify customer details against the carrier of record. The seven-endpoint surface focuses on payment request, transfer, messaging send, customer lookup, and account balance read operations under a single API-key auth model.

Use Cases

Patterns agents use MTN Developer API API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Accept MTN Mobile Money at Checkout

Merchants accepting payments in markets like Ghana, Uganda, Cameroon, and Côte d'Ivoire issue a collection request to the customer's MTN Mobile Money wallet. POST /payments/request returns a referenceId that the merchant polls with GET /payments/{referenceId} until settlement. The flow replaces card payments where Mobile Money penetration exceeds card issuance.

Call POST /payments/request with the customer's MSISDN and amount, then poll GET /payments/{referenceId} every few seconds until the status field reads SUCCESSFUL or FAILED.

Disbursement to Wallet Recipients

Gig platforms and microfinance products push earnings or loan disbursements to MTN Mobile Money wallets via POST /transfer. The same call structure handles agent commissions and refunds, removing the need for bank rails in markets where wallet penetration is higher than account ownership. Each transfer carries a referenceId for reconciliation.

Call POST /transfer with the recipient MSISDN and the disbursement amount, persist the returned referenceId, and reconcile against GET /payments/{referenceId} status.

Transactional SMS to MTN Subscribers

Apps confirming payments, deliveries, or appointments send transactional SMS through POST /messages/send routed natively across MTN's network. The /messages/{messageId} read confirms delivery state for reconciliation. Native carrier routing improves deliverability for MTN-numbered subscribers compared with international SMS aggregators.

Send POST /messages/send with the subscriber's MSISDN and message body, then audit deliveries via GET /messages/{messageId}.

Agent-Driven Mobile Money Reconciliation

An AI agent reconciles a day of Mobile Money settlements against the merchant's order ledger. Through Jentic the agent searches for 'check mobile money payment status', loads the schema, iterates GET /payments/{referenceId} for every order in the day, and flags mismatches. The merchant balance from GET /account/balance closes the loop on cash position.

Search Jentic for 'check mobile money payment status', call GET /payments/{referenceId} for each ledger row, and reconcile discrepancies against GET /account/balance.

Key Endpoints

7 endpoints — mtn group's developer api surfaces core mobile network capabilities — mobile money payments, messaging, customer profile lookups, and account balance — across mtn's african operating units.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

POST

/payments/request

Initiate a Mobile Money collection from a subscriber

GET

/payments/{referenceId}

Check payment status by referenceId

POST

/transfer

Send funds to a recipient wallet

POST

/messages/send

Send a transactional SMS

GET

/customers/{customerId}

Look up a customer profile

GET

/account/balance

Read merchant account balance

POST

/payments/request

Initiate a Mobile Money collection from a subscriber

GET

/payments/{referenceId}

Check payment status by referenceId

POST

/transfer

Send funds to a recipient wallet

POST

/messages/send

Send a transactional SMS

GET

/customers/{customerId}

Look up a customer profile

Why though Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

The MTN API key is stored encrypted in the Jentic vault and injected into the X-API-Key header at execution. Agents only see a scoped session token — the raw key never enters prompt context or logs.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search Jentic with intents like 'take a mobile money payment' or 'send a carrier sms in africa' and Jentic returns the matching MTN operation with its input schema, hiding the per-operating-unit base-URL routing.

Time to first call

Direct MTN integration: 1-2 weeks because each operating unit (Ghana, Uganda, etc.) has its own sandbox approval and production uplift. Through Jentic: under an hour to run a sandbox payment request once the credential is loaded.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Alternative

Airtel Africa API

Airtel Money offers a competing mobile money rail across many of the same African markets

Pick Airtel when the customer holds an Airtel Money wallet rather than MTN MoMo, or when the merchant wants dual-rail coverage.

Alternative

Twilio Messaging API

Twilio handles SMS across global carriers including African operators

Choose Twilio when the workflow needs cross-carrier SMS reach rather than MTN-native delivery.

Complementary

SendGrid Mail

SendGrid covers transactional email to complement MTN's SMS and Mobile Money

Pair with MTN when the workflow needs an email channel alongside MoMo payment receipts.

FAQs

Specific to using MTN Developer API API through Jentic.

What authentication does the MTN Developer API use?

The MTN Developer API uses an API key passed in the X-API-Key header on every request. Through Jentic that key is held in the encrypted vault and injected at execution, so the agent never holds the raw secret.

Can I take a Mobile Money payment and confirm it in one workflow?

Yes. POST /payments/request creates the collection on the subscriber's wallet and returns a referenceId, then GET /payments/{referenceId} returns the settlement status. Poll until the status is SUCCESSFUL or FAILED before fulfilling the order.

What are the rate limits for the MTN Developer API?

MTN applies environment-specific rate limits — sandbox is throttled lower than production and limits vary by operating unit (Ghana, Uganda, Cameroon, etc.). Use the sandbox base URL for testing and request a production quota uplift before launching a high-volume integration.

How do I send a transactional SMS through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'send a carrier sms in africa', load the /messages/send schema, and execute POST /messages/send with the MSISDN and message body. Audit delivery via GET /messages/{messageId} on the returned id.

Is the MTN Developer API free?

MTN provides a sandbox tier for development at no cost. Production use is metered per channel and per operating unit — Mobile Money charges a transaction fee, SMS is charged per message, and country-specific commercial agreements apply.

Does the API work across every MTN country?

Coverage varies by operating unit. Mobile Money endpoints are live in markets with active MTN MoMo operations including Ghana, Uganda, Cameroon, and Côte d'Ivoire, while messaging is available wherever MTN runs the network. Check developers.mtn.com for the current per-country availability matrix.