Supported Currencies

Chapa supports a select set of currencies based on regional coverage, settlement capability, and regulatory requirements. Each currency has specific rules around payments, payouts, refunds, and limits.

Always ensure you're using a supported currency for the selected payment or payout flow to avoid validation errors.

Currently Supported Currencies

Currency Usage by Feature

Payments

Payouts

Some banks support ETB only. Always check bank configuration before initiating payouts.

Refunds

Refunds follow these rules:

• Refunds are processed in the original transaction currency
• Partial refunds must not exceed the original amount
• Currency conversion is not applied during refunds

Currency-Specific Notes

Ethiopian Birr (ETB)

Fully supported across:

• Payments
• Payouts
• Refunds

Supports:

• Mobile money
• Banks
• Cards
• Direct charge

Default currency for Ethiopian merchants.

US Dollar (USD)

• Limited payment methods
• Bank support varies by region
• Additional compliance checks may apply
• Some features may be unavailable depending on merchant setup

Djiboutian Franc (DJF)

• Supported for payments in supported regions
• Limited payout and bank support
• Payment methods may be restricted
• Best used with hosted checkout flows

Ugandan Shilling (UGX)

• Supported for payments, primarily via mobile money
• Bank and payout support varies by provider
• Commonly used in mobile-first payment flows
• Verify provider availability before going live

Validating Currency Support

Before initiating payouts or bulk transfers, always fetch supported banks:

GET /v2/payouts/banks

Check the following fields:

• supported_currencies
• min_amount
• max_amount
• Country-level enablement

This prevents:

• Currency mismatch errors
• Unsupported payout attempts
• Failed transfers

Common Currency Errors

Best Practices

• Always explicitly set currency
• Do not assume multi-currency support
• Validate bank compatibility for payouts
• Store currency at transaction creation time
• Avoid switching currency mid-flow

Key Takeaways

Bank-level rules apply to payouts. Currency mismatches are a common source of errors.

Next Steps

• Bank List - Get supported banks
• Payout - Create payouts
• Error Codes - Handle currency errors