Remittance Origination

Send money into Djibouti and Ethiopia, on rails.

Collect a sender's funds by card abroad, run AML and sanctions screening, lock the FX rate, and pay out in DJF or ETB through whichever rail makes the most sense for the recipient. One API spans the full origination flow — your MTO brand stays on the front-end.

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What the corridor looks like

Source currencies: USD · EUR · GBP
Destinations: DJ · ET
AML lists: OFAC · EU · UN
Funding methods: CNP · ACH

Why operators choose MerasPay for origination

Cross-border payments are 90% compliance, FX, and reconciliation. Origination on MerasPay collapses those three problems into one API.

Card-not-present funding

Senders pay in their currency (USD, EUR, GBP) by card via Cybersource CNP. We tokenise the card, run Decision Manager risk, and authorise.

Locked FX

A quote is generated at order creation with FX margin pre-applied. The locked rate holds until expiry — no surprise mid-flow conversions.

Sanctions and risk

OFAC, EU, and UN consolidated lists are screened on every sender, recipient, and beneficial owner. Velocity rules catch structuring and shape-shifting.

Recipient choice

Pay out to a mobile wallet (Waafipay, D-Money, SabaPay), a bank account (CAC, EAB), or agent cash for unbanked recipients.

Same-day to Djibouti

Once funding clears, Djibouti payouts settle within minutes on mobile wallets and within the same business day on bank rails.

Ethiopia corridor via SantimPay

Outbound termination into Ethiopia uses SantimPay as the in-country payout partner with pre-funded ETB float for rapid settlement.

From quote to settled payout

Four orchestrated steps. Each emits a webhook so your back-office can mirror state in near real-time.

1
Quote
POST /v1/remittance/quotes with source amount, source currency, destination corridor, payout method. We return a locked-in FX rate, destination amount, fees, and a 15-minute quote expiry.
2
Order
POST /v1/remittance/orders with the quote id, sender KYC tier, recipient details, and purpose code. The order moves to a pending_funding state and emits remittance_order.created.
3
Funding
Charge the sender card via Cybersource CNP or a bank pull. Successful funding moves the order to processing and triggers AML screening — sanctions hits halt the order automatically.
4
Payout
Once AML clears, the outbound dispatcher routes to the right rail (D-Money / Waafipay / SabaPay / CAC / EAB / SantimPay). Real-time payout status feeds the order and a remittance_order.completed webhook.

In code

A USD-to-ETB family-support remittance: quote first to lock the rate, then create the order with sender + recipient KYC and a purpose code.

bash

# Step 1 — quote.
$ curl -X POST https://api.meraspay.io/v1/remittance/quotes \
  -u sk_live_xxx: \
  -d source_amount=20000 \
  -d source_currency=USD \
  -d destination_country=ET \
  -d destination_payout_method=mobile_wallet

{
  "id": "rq_01HZF...",
  "source_amount": 20000,           # 200.00 USD (minor units)
  "destination_amount": 11270000,   # 112,700.00 ETB
  "fx_rate": 56.35,
  "fees": { "merchant_fee": 200, "fx_margin": 0.6 },
  "expires_at": "2026-05-24T16:00:00Z"
}

# Step 2 — order.
$ curl -X POST https://api.meraspay.io/v1/remittance/orders \
  -u sk_live_xxx: \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: rem-2026-05-24-001" \
  -d quote_id=rq_01HZF... \
  -d sender[name]="Halima Said" -d sender[country]=US \
  -d sender[id_type]=passport -d sender[id_number]=A87234561 \
  -d recipient[name]="Yared Worku" -d recipient[country]=ET \
  -d recipient[msisdn]=+251911223344 \
  -d purpose_code=family_support

Frequently asked

Who can originate remittances?▾

Licensed Money Transfer Operators with a money-transmission permit in the source country. MerasPay handles the in-corridor termination on the recipient side; the sender-facing licensing remains the MTO's responsibility.

What KYC does the sender need?▾

Tiered. Up to USD 500 / month: name + phone + photo ID. Up to USD 3,000 / month: add address proof + source-of-funds declaration. Above: full enhanced due diligence.

How do you handle FX risk?▾

Rates are quoted with margin baked in and locked for 15 minutes. We pre-fund destination currency from our treasury accounts to absorb the float during settlement.

What happens to declined / sanctioned orders?▾

The order moves to canceled and emits remittance_order.canceled with the cancellation reason. Funded amounts are auto-refunded to the source card with the same idempotency lineage.

How long does the Ethiopia leg take?▾

Mobile wallet payouts via SantimPay typically clear in under five minutes. Bank account credits depend on the destination bank's clearing window — usually same business day.

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