Published by Abuur

The Somali Checkout Standard

Mobile money runs this economy, but almost no website presents it well. These five rules are how Abuur builds every checkout, copy them, hold us to them, argue with them.

1

Show wallets, not gateways

A customer thinks in the account they already hold: EVC Plus, ZAAD, SAHAL, eDahab. No consumer has an 'aggregator account', so never make one a choice at checkout. The payment network is plumbing, plumbing has a place later in this list, and it is not here.

2

The gateway appears once, quietly

Trust needs somewhere to live, so put it under the methods: 'Secured by WAAFIPay' with a one-line explainer. That single badge answers the skeptical first-time payer without adding friction for everyone else. If your gateway is different, name it there instead, same rule.

3

The number knows the wallet

Somali mobile money routes by phone number. A checkout that makes customers pick their wallet before typing anything asks a question the number already answers. Read the prefix as they type, reflect what you see, and stay silent when unsure. The gateway resolves the real answer server-side; the interface just keeps up.

4

Brand casing is exact, everywhere

EVC Plus. ZAAD. SAHAL. eDahab. WAAFIPay. PayPal. Not Zaad one screen and ZAAD the next, casing drift reads as carelessness, and carelessness does not get handed someone's salary. Pick each brand's own written form once and enforce it in every label, receipt, FAQ and error message.

5

Two audiences, two surfaces

Marketing pages answer 'will my customers be able to pay?', so they show every rail together. Checkout answers 'how do I pay?', so it shows one customer's options, led by what they most likely hold. Mixing these up gives you a checkout that advertises and a landing page that interrogates.

What's WAAFIPay?

WAAFIPay is a licensed Somali payment network that connects mobile wallets, EVC Plus (Hormuud), ZAAD (Telesom) and SAHAL (Golis), so a business can accept all of them with one integration. When you approve a payment on Abuur, the money moves from your own wallet through that network. Your PIN goes to your wallet's prompt, never to us.

This page is the spec, not marketing. Every checkout we ship is measured against these five rules, including the one you'll pay us through.