Payment received but customer not online
For a quick script your support desk can follow on a call, see A customer paid but is not connected. This page covers the causes in more depth.
Symptoms
Section titled “Symptoms”- The customer has an M-Pesa confirmation SMS but no internet.
- The hotspot portal still shows the packages page after paying.
- The portal keeps waiting for the payment.
- A PPPoE customer has paid, but their expiry date hasn’t moved.
Likely causes
Section titled “Likely causes”| Cause | What you’ll see on the dashboard |
|---|---|
| The M-Pesa confirmation is delayed | Nothing in Payments → Received yet. It turns up a few minutes later. |
| Wrong account number | The payment is in Payments → Received, but its page says No destination wallet assigned. |
| Wrong Paybill or Till | No payment ever arrives. The customer paid a different business. |
| Your own Paybill isn’t sending confirmations to ISPMan | No payments arrive from that Paybill, even though money reaches your M-Pesa statement. |
| Money in the wallet but no package started | The customer is listed under Wallets → Loaded with an available balance. |
| Paid less than the package price | Same as above: the balance is lower than the package price. |
| The phone shows up as a different device | The payment and package are fine, but the phone now has a new (random) MAC address. |
| The router is offline | The payment and package are fine, but Last Seen for the router is old. |
| PPPoE login problem, not a payment problem | The expiry date is in the future, but PPPoE → Auth Logs shows rejects. |
Checks
Section titled “Checks”- Payments → Received: filter Reference by the M-Pesa code, or filter by Account. Open the payment and check that Service and the customer are right.
- Wallets → Loaded: lists customers with money that hasn’t been used for a package yet. Compare their Available Balance with the package price.
- Wallets → Pending: wallets stuck in a pending state. These should clear within minutes. If one stays for longer than a few minutes, contact support.
- The customer’s page (Customers → Hotspot or Customers → PPPoE): check the current package, the expiry time and any active sessions.
- Hotspot → Auth Logs or PPPoE → Auth Logs: look up the customer by username or MAC and read the Reason on any red
Access-Reject.
Payment not listed yet. Wait a few minutes and click Refresh. M-Pesa confirmations can be delayed, especially at month-end and on public holidays. If no payments at all are coming in from your own Paybill, go to Settings → Payments Settings, click Register URLs on the M-Pesa Paybill and then Test it.
Wrong account number. Open the payment, click Assign Wallet, search for the customer and click Select. Only owners, admins and operators can do this.
Money in the wallet, no package (hotspot). Ask the customer to open the portal and choose a package. Their wallet balance pays for it. If your portal offers it, they can also enter their payment reference (the M-Pesa code) to get back online, using the Already paid? option. If they can’t reach the portal, click Connect on their page and pick the package.
New MAC address (hotspot). The customer’s phone is using a random (“private”) Wi-Fi address. Ask them to switch that off for your network, or use the payment reference login above. Then use Reset Connection on their page.
PPPoE paid but not renewed. Check that their wallet balance covers the package. If it does and they’re still expired, click Connect on their page (mode Normal) and set the Package Expiry Date. Have them restart their router.
PPPoE renewed but still offline. It’s an authentication problem. See PPPoE customer can’t connect.
Router offline. See Router shows offline.
Customer-facing messages
Section titled “Customer-facing messages”| On the portal | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Keeps waiting for payment | ISPMan hasn’t received the money yet. The customer may have cancelled the M-Pesa prompt or let it time out. They can try again, or you can check Payments → Received a few minutes later. |
| You Have Been Connected! | It worked. If they still can’t browse, ask them to close the page and reconnect to the Wi-Fi. They won’t be asked to pay again. |
| Payment Gateway Not Configured | No payment provider has been set up. See Settings → Payments Settings. |
When to contact support
Section titled “When to contact support”Contact support if:
- A payment is on your M-Pesa statement but hasn’t appeared in Payments → Received after an hour.
- A wallet stays in Wallets → Pending for more than a few minutes.
- Assign Wallet fails with Could not assign wallet to this payment.
Include the M-Pesa code, the amount, the time and the customer’s account number. See Communication.