DzalekaPay Opens Beta for Stores, QR Payments, and Fundraising

DzalekaPay is now open for beta testing at pay.dzaleka.com.

The platform gives sellers, freelancers, organisations, cash-out agents, and community businesses a clearer way to collect payments, share payment links or QR codes, open simple storefronts, and keep transaction records in one account. You do not need a website or point-of-sale device to start testing it.

DzalekaPay is not a bank, mobile-money operator, personal wallet, or remittance service.

Where It Fits

Dzaleka Online Services already supports local discovery through the Marketplace, store directory, services directory, events calendar, and business guidance such as Entrepreneurship and Small Business Resources in Dzaleka.

DzalekaPay adds a payment and storefront layer for the same kinds of everyday activity: selling food, crafts, books, clothing, repair work, tutoring, design services, event tickets, campaign contributions, and other community payments.

For someone already listing a product or service online, this means they can test a payment link, QR page, or simple storefront alongside the listing instead of relying only on screenshots in a chat thread.

What You Can Test

The current beta includes:

• payment requests with an amount and description
• hosted payment pages for Airtel Money, TNM Mpamba, or card payments in MWK
• shareable payment links for WhatsApp, Messenger, email, or other channels
• QR code payment pages for shops, stalls, events, and service providers
• transaction history and CSV statements inside a DzalekaPay account
• airtime top-ups
• simple storefronts for listing products under one shareable store link
• event and ticket pages with QR check-in
• fundraising and contribution pages for community projects

DzalekaPay is designed to make each payment easier to identify. A customer can open a link or scan a QR code, follow the payment instructions, and the seller can check the transaction from their account.

Storefronts

Sellers can also open a simple storefront.

A storefront lets you list products, share one store link, and let customers pay by mobile money or card without building a full ecommerce site. This is useful for sellers who want something more organised than a chat thread, but do not need a custom website.

Each product can include a price, description, image URL, and optional stock count. After platform review, customers can open the public store page, choose a product, and complete payment through the available payment methods. Store owners can then track paid, pending, failed, refunded, or cancelled attempts from their dashboard.

Campaigns and Events

DzalekaPay also supports contribution pages and event ticketing.

Campaign organisers can create a public fundraising page for community projects, education needs, emergency support, arts work, or organisation expenses. Supporters in Malawi can use mobile money, while supporters outside Malawi can use card checkout where available.

Event organisers can create an event, share one link or QR code, accept ticket payments, and use QR check-in at the door.

Verification and Limits

DzalekaPay is designed for refugee-inclusive merchant onboarding. Merchants can use documents such as a Refugee ID Card, Asylum Seeker ID Card, UNHCR Proof of Registration, ration card, Malawi National ID, selfie, or business permit where available. A business permit can help, but it is not the only path to verification.

Merchants can begin collecting payments and withdrawing within tier limits while documents are under review. Completing verification raises the account limits.

Current beta limits listed in the DzalekaPay merchant guide are:

• unverified accounts: up to MWK 500,000 per day for collections and MWK 500,000 per day for payouts
• verified accounts: up to MWK 5,000,000 per day for collections and MWK 5,000,000 per day for payouts
• single mobile money payment: up to MWK 1,000,000, depending on mobile network and processor limits

Fees and Settlement

DzalekaPay does not list monthly, setup, or subscription fees for merchants. Fees apply when a transaction succeeds.

The current collection fee is 5% in total: 3% PayChangu processing and 2% DzalekaPay platform fee. Mobile money withdrawals are listed at 1%, with a minimum of MWK 30 and a maximum of MWK 200.

Successful customer payments first appear as pending, then become available after the T+1 overnight settlement process. Merchants can withdraw settled balances through supported payout options. Auto-Sweep can also send settled balances to a mobile money account overnight once the available balance reaches MWK 3,000.

Who Can Test It

The beta is open to people in Dzaleka and elsewhere in Malawi.

It may be useful for:

• shop owners
• market vendors
• restaurants and food sellers
• freelancers
• tutors and repair workers
• event organisers
• community organisations
• campaign organisers
• Marketplace sellers and store owners
• individuals testing a small payment flow

Beta Feedback

DzalekaPay is still an early version. Features, payment steps, account options, and transaction limits may change during testing.

The team is looking for feedback on whether users can:

• create an account
• create and share a payment request
• complete a small test payment
• find the transaction afterwards

If something is unclear or does not work as expected, report it through the DzalekaPay Help Centre.

Try DzalekaPay

Start with a small transaction. You can request payment for a product or service, ask someone to pay through your QR page, open a simple storefront, sell tickets, top up airtime, or collect contributions for a campaign.

• Create your DzalekaPay account
• Read the DzalekaPay announcement
• Open the DzalekaPay Help Centre

If you also want to list a product, service, restaurant, or shop on Dzaleka Online Services, use the Marketplace or register a store.