MAA INVEST Pay Docs
The sandbox is a full copy of the checkout flow that never touches M-Pesa, a paybill or any wallet. It uses the same endpoint, the same signing and the same field validation as live, so a request that works here works in production.
Test phone numbers#
Enter one of these on the test checkout page (or pre-fill it with customer_phone). Any other valid Safaricom number succeeds.
| Number | Result | Status | Reason you get |
|---|---|---|---|
0708000001 | Payment succeeds | paid | Receipt like TEST1A2B3C |
0708000002 | Customer cancels the prompt | failed | Request cancelled by user. |
0708000003 | Insufficient M-Pesa balance | failed | The balance is insufficient for the transaction. |
0708000004 | Customer enters the wrong PIN | failed | The initiator information is invalid. |
0708000005 | Customer never answers (times out) | failed | DS timeout, the customer could not be reached. |
The simulated customer answers after about 3 seconds (the "never answers" number fails after 20 seconds). After a failure you can try another number on the same checkout (up to 5 attempts, 5 seconds apart).
What is different from live#
- Test receipts start with
TEST. Webhook and status responses include"sandbox": true; live ones do not. - Sandbox webhooks are not retried automatically. Use Resend webhook on the Merchant Gateway page. (Live retries for about 2 days.)
- The wait between prompts is 5 seconds (live: 15 seconds).
- Test checkouts are kept for 30 days and capped at 500 per day. Clear test data deletes them all.
- Just like live, the same
invoice_idwith the same amount returns the existing checkout (an already paid one shows as paid). Use a newinvoice_idfor each test, or clear your test data. - The webhook still has to reach a public HTTPS URL with a valid certificate.
Testing WHMCS and WooCommerce#
The plugins can be downloaded from the sandbox panel. Paste the test Merchant ID and secret into their settings and leave the Checkout URL as it is; the plugin then runs in test mode. Switch to your live ID and secret when you go live.