DEV Community: 0xSonOfUri

Building Global Payment Products Without Owning Banking Infrastructure

0xSonOfUri — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 23:46:55 +0000

A decade ago, building a financial product required enormous resources.

If you wanted to launch a payments company, you needed:

banking relationships
settlement infrastructure
compliance operations
payment processing agreements
treasury management systems

For most startups, that was simply out of reach.

Today, things look very different.

A small team can build products that move money globally without owning a bank, operating payment rails, or maintaining treasury infrastructure.

The secret isn't magic.

It's infrastructure.

The Old Fintech Playbook

Historically, launching a financial product meant becoming part of the financial system itself.

That often involved:

obtaining licenses
negotiating banking partnerships
integrating with payment processors
maintaining settlement accounts
building compliance operations

The barriers were high.

And for good reason.

Moving money is complicated.

The New Fintech Stack

Modern fintech companies increasingly build on top of specialized infrastructure providers.

Instead of building everything themselves, they compose financial primitives.

Think of it like cloud computing.

Most startups don't build their own data centers.

They build on AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure.

Financial infrastructure is moving in a similar direction.

Developers now have access to building blocks such as:

virtual accounts
wallet infrastructure
payouts
foreign exchange
stablecoin settlement
transaction monitoring

through APIs.

The Shift from Banks to Building Blocks

Consider a simple requirement:

Receive money from customers.

Years ago, that might require:

direct banking integrations
account provisioning systems
settlement infrastructure

Today, an API can provision receiving accounts for you.

The same pattern appears across the financial stack.

Need to:

receive funds?
send payouts?
manage wallets?
support multiple currencies?

There are infrastructure layers designed to handle those complexities.

What Developers Actually Build

The interesting thing is that most fintech startups are not building payment rails.

They're building products.

The rails already exist.

The real value often comes from:

user experience
automation
workflows
business logic
distribution

Not from rebuilding banking infrastructure.

For example:

A freelancer platform doesn't need to become a bank.

It needs:

customer onboarding
collections
payouts
reporting

Infrastructure providers handle the rest.

The Role of Stablecoins

Stablecoins are accelerating this trend.

Many cross-border payment platforms now use stablecoins internally for:

treasury management
liquidity movement
settlement

while customers continue interacting with familiar payment experiences.

The customer sees:

Send Money

The infrastructure may involve:

Collection
↓
Settlement
↓
Stablecoin Treasury
↓
Liquidity Partner
↓
Payout

The complexity is hidden behind APIs and infrastructure layers.

What This Means for Builders

The question is no longer:

How do I become a bank?

The question is:

What can I build on top of financial infrastructure?

That opens the door to entirely new products.

Developers can focus on:

marketplaces
payroll systems
creator platforms
remittance products
B2B payment workflows
treasury automation

without spending years building foundational infrastructure.

Infrastructure Is Becoming the Advantage

The most successful fintech companies of the next decade may not be the ones that own the rails.

They may be the ones that use the rails most effectively.

Just as cloud providers abstracted away servers, modern financial infrastructure is abstracting away much of the complexity involved in moving money.

That allows builders to focus on solving customer problems rather than rebuilding the financial system from scratch.

Final Thoughts

Building a global payment product used to require becoming part of the banking system.

Today, developers can access many of the same capabilities through infrastructure providers and APIs.

The opportunity has shifted.

Less time spent building rails.

More time spent building products.

And that might be one of the most important changes happening in fintech today.

What Happens After You Click “Send Money”? Lessons from the Afriex Utila Partnership

0xSonOfUri — Fri, 29 May 2026 15:42:42 +0000

Most people think cross-border payments are simple.

You open an app.

Enter an amount.

Choose a recipient.

Click send.

A few moments later, the money arrives.

Simple.

At least on the surface.

What most people never see is the infrastructure required to make that experience possible at scale.

Recently, Utila published a case study about its partnership with Afriex, a company operating cross-border payment corridors across Africa. While the announcement focused on infrastructure, it revealed something much more interesting:

The real challenge in cross-border payments isn't sending money. It's managing liquidity, treasury operations, and settlement across multiple markets simultaneously.

And that's where stablecoins are quietly becoming critical infrastructure.

The Hidden Side of Cross-Border Payments

When users think about a transfer, they typically imagine something like this:

Sender
   ↓
Payment
   ↓
Recipient

Reality looks closer to:

Sender
   ↓
Collection Rail
   ↓
Treasury Layer
   ↓
Liquidity Partner
   ↓
FX Conversion
   ↓
Settlement Layer
   ↓
Local Payout Partner
   ↓
Recipient

Every additional country introduces more complexity:

different currencies
different banking systems
different payout partners
different liquidity requirements

Now imagine operating this across more than 20 African corridors.

The challenge quickly becomes operational.

Afriex's Challenge

According to Utila's case study, Afriex needed the ability to support multiple stablecoins across multiple blockchain networks while settling with payout partners throughout Africa.

The problem wasn't simply storing assets.

It was managing:

USDC
USDT
multiple blockchain networks
treasury movements
partner settlements
growing B2B customer operations

all from a unified operational layer.

Without consolidation, these workflows often require:

multiple exchanges
multiple wallets
manual treasury processes
fragmented operational visibility

As transaction volume grows, that model becomes increasingly difficult to manage.

Why Stablecoins Matter

When most people hear "stablecoins," they think about crypto.

But infrastructure teams increasingly think about them differently.

They think about settlement.

Stablecoins offer something traditional payment systems often struggle to provide:

global interoperability
24/7 settlement
programmable transfers
asset portability across networks

For payment companies, stablecoins are increasingly functioning as operational rails rather than speculative assets.

That's a significant shift.

The Infrastructure Layer

One detail from the case study stood out.

Afriex needed to support:

any stablecoin on any chain

for partner settlements across African markets.

That sounds simple.

It isn't.

Different counterparties may require:

different assets
different networks
different settlement preferences

Supporting that flexibility often introduces substantial operational complexity.

According to the case study, Utila provided a single platform that enabled:

multi-asset support
multi-chain support
treasury operations
wallet provisioning
settlement workflows

from one operational layer.

The result was less fragmentation and greater operational control.

Beyond Treasury: Wallet Infrastructure

Another interesting outcome was wallet provisioning.

As Afriex expanded its B2B platform, business customers needed dedicated wallet infrastructure.

Rather than treating wallets as an internal treasury tool, wallets became part of the customer-facing product experience.

Businesses could receive:

dedicated wallet addresses
preferred stablecoin support
preferred network support

while Afriex managed the infrastructure centrally.

This highlights an important trend:

Stablecoin infrastructure is increasingly becoming product infrastructure.

The Bigger Trend

The Afriex × Utila story reflects a broader industry movement.

Stablecoins are no longer only consumer products.

They are becoming:

treasury infrastructure
settlement infrastructure
liquidity infrastructure
payment infrastructure

Across the payments industry, companies are increasingly evaluating stablecoins as an alternative settlement layer because of their speed, global accessibility, and operational flexibility.

In many ways, stablecoins are evolving into the backend infrastructure powering modern money movement.

Users may never see them.

But they increasingly benefit from them.

The Real Lesson

The most interesting takeaway from the Afriex × Utila partnership isn't that a fintech adopted stablecoins.

It's that operational complexity becomes the biggest challenge as payment systems scale.

Building a payment product is one thing.

Operating liquidity, settlements, treasury, and customer infrastructure across dozens of markets is another challenge entirely.

The companies that succeed are often the ones that find ways to simplify that complexity.

That's what makes this case study interesting.

It's a reminder that behind every successful payment experience is an enormous amount of infrastructure working quietly in the background.

Final Thoughts

Cross-border payments are often discussed from the perspective of user experience.

Faster transfers.

Lower fees.

Better access.

But infrastructure tells a different story.

The real challenge is coordinating liquidity, settlements, treasury operations, and customer assets across a fragmented financial landscape.

The Afriex × Utila partnership offers a glimpse into how modern payment companies are approaching that challenge.

And increasingly, stablecoins are becoming part of the answer.

What Happens When AI Agents Can Access Payment Infrastructure? Exploring OpenClaw + Afriex MCP

0xSonOfUri — Fri, 29 May 2026 15:24:25 +0000

For years, we've built APIs for developers.

Every payment gateway, banking platform, fintech API, and infrastructure provider has been designed around a simple assumption:

A human developer writes the code that interacts with the API.

But what happens when AI agents become the users of those APIs?

That's the question I've been thinking about while exploring OpenClaw and Afriex MCP.

Not from the perspective of replacing developers.

But from the perspective of enabling AI systems to interact with infrastructure in meaningful ways.

The Shift From Code Generation to Infrastructure Interaction

Most developers have already experienced AI-assisted coding.

We use tools like Cursor to:

generate components
write tests
explain code
scaffold projects

But that's still fundamentally code generation.

The AI helps create software.

The developer remains the bridge between the software and the infrastructure.

The next evolution is different.

The AI doesn't just generate code.

The AI interacts with infrastructure directly.

Enter OpenClaw

OpenClaw is an open framework for building AI agents capable of interacting with tools and external systems.

Instead of simply responding to prompts, agents can:

perform actions
execute workflows
use tools
interact with services

This transforms the AI from a conversational assistant into something much more operational.

The interesting question becomes:

What tools should these agents have access to?

And that's where infrastructure enters the picture.

Enter Afriex MCP

Afriex MCP exposes Afriex capabilities through the Model Context Protocol.

This means AI-enabled tools and agents can interact with payment infrastructure through structured tooling.

Instead of building everything manually first, an agent can understand and interact with financial primitives such as:

balances
virtual accounts
transactions
payment workflows

through MCP-enabled interfaces.

On their own, OpenClaw and Afriex MCP are interesting.

Together, they become much more compelling.

What Could an Infrastructure-Aware Agent Do?

Imagine an AI agent with access to payment infrastructure.

Not in a hypothetical science-fiction future.

Today.

Balance Monitoring

An agent could continuously monitor balances across accounts.

When thresholds are reached, it could:

notify teams
trigger workflows
generate reports

without manual intervention.

Payment Operations

An agent could generate receiving instructions for customers.

For example:

Create a virtual account for Customer X.

The agent retrieves the required information and returns payment instructions immediately.

Transaction Monitoring

Instead of manually checking dashboards, agents could monitor transaction events and surface only what requires human attention.

Examples:

failed transactions
delayed settlements
unusual activity
reconciliation issues

Developer Workflows

This is the area that excites me most.

Imagine asking:

Generate a payment integration using Afriex.

Instead of simply generating generic code, the agent understands:

the infrastructure
available tools
workflow patterns

and builds with real context.

The difference is subtle.

But significant.

APIs Were Built for Developers

One idea keeps coming back to me.

For decades, we've designed APIs around human developers.

Documentation.
SDKs.
Authentication.
Request-response patterns.

Everything assumes a human sits in the middle.

But MCP introduces a different model.

Infrastructure becomes accessible not only to developers, but also to AI systems.

That changes how we think about integrations.

It changes how we think about tooling.

And eventually, it may change how software gets built.

Why Fintech Is Particularly Interesting

Many industries can benefit from infrastructure-aware agents.

Fintech stands out because financial workflows are already highly structured.

Consider how much time teams spend:

monitoring transactions
checking balances
reconciling payments
handling operational workflows

These are precisely the kinds of activities agents can assist with.

Not replacing humans.

Augmenting them.

Making teams more efficient.

Reducing operational friction.

The Bigger Picture

I don't think the most interesting outcome is:

AI writes code faster.

I think the more interesting outcome is:

AI understands and interacts with infrastructure.

That's a much bigger shift.

Because once agents can interact with infrastructure safely and predictably, entirely new workflows become possible.

OpenClaw provides the agent layer.

Afriex MCP provides the infrastructure layer.

Together they offer a glimpse into what AI-native financial systems might look like.

Final Thoughts

We're still early.

Most of these patterns are only beginning to emerge.

But one thing feels increasingly clear:

The future isn't just AI-assisted development.

It's infrastructure-aware AI.

And as developers, it's worth paying attention to what becomes possible when agents can interact with the systems we've spent years building.

OpenClaw and Afriex MCP are an interesting place to start exploring that future.

Getting Started with Afriex MCP in Cursor

0xSonOfUri — Sat, 16 May 2026 15:17:52 +0000

AI coding tools are evolving quickly.

But the real shift starts when your editor can interact with infrastructure directly.

Instead of only generating code, AI tools can now:

query APIs
interact with services
retrieve live data
execute workflows

That’s where MCP comes in.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to:

set up Afriex MCP in Cursor
connect your Afriex account
verify your setup
understand how MCP changes the developer workflow

This is not a product demo.

This is a practical setup guide for developers getting started with Afriex MCP.

What is MCP?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standardized way for AI tools to interact with external systems and services.

Instead of treating the AI editor as:

“just a code generator”

MCP allows it to become:

“an infrastructure-aware development environment”

With MCP, AI tools can:

access APIs
call external tools
retrieve live data
orchestrate workflows

directly from inside the editor.

Why This Matters

Normally, integrating financial infrastructure involves:

reading documentation
wiring SDKs manually
testing requests
switching between dashboards and terminals

With MCP:

the editor gains context
workflows become faster
AI can assist with infrastructure interactions directly

This creates a very different developer experience.

What is Afriex MCP?

Afriex MCP exposes Afriex infrastructure capabilities to AI-enabled developer tools like Cursor.

This allows Cursor to:

retrieve balances
understand payment workflows
scaffold integrations
interact with Afriex APIs through MCP tools

directly from natural language prompts.

Prerequisites

Before starting, you’ll need:

An Afriex Business account
Cursor installed
An Afriex API key

Useful links:

Step 1 — Log Into Afriex Business

Head to:

https://business.afriex.com/

Log into your Afriex Business account.

Step 2 — Open the Documentation

Inside the dashboard:

Navigate to:
- Developer
- API Documentation

Afriex provides detailed developer documentation including MCP setup instructions.

Step 3 — Open the MCP Guide

Inside the docs:

Open:
- MCP Server
- Connecting MCP Clients

This section contains:

supported MCP clients
setup instructions
recommended configurations

Step 4 — Select Cursor

Afriex supports multiple MCP-capable tools and IDEs.

In this guide, we’ll use:

Cursor

Copy the recommended Cursor MCP configuration from the docs.

Step 5 — Configure Cursor

Inside Cursor:

Open Settings
Navigate to:
- Tools & MCPs
Click:
- Add Custom MCP

Paste the configuration you copied from the Afriex documentation.

Step 6 — Update Your Credentials

Update the configuration with your credentials:

"x-afriex-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
"x-afriex-environment": "production"

You can also use:

"x-afriex-environment": "sandbox"

for testing environments if supported in your workflow.

Step 7 — Verify the Connection

Now that Cursor is connected to Afriex MCP, try a simple prompt inside Cursor:

Use Afriex MCP to fetch my live balances

If everything is configured correctly, Cursor should retrieve:

NGN balances
USD balances
supported wallet balances

directly from Afriex.

At this point, your editor is no longer operating purely as a code assistant.

It can now interact with infrastructure through MCP.

What Makes This Interesting

The important shift here is not:

“AI generates code.”

The interesting part is:

“AI can now interact with systems.”

That changes the workflow significantly.

Instead of:

constantly context switching
manually wiring everything first
navigating infrastructure alone

developers can now work with AI tools that understand:

APIs
infrastructure
workflows
integrations

more directly.

Example MCP Workflow

Once connected, you can start using prompts like:

Fetch my Afriex balances

Help me scaffold an Afriex integration

Generate a Next.js API route for Afriex virtual accounts

Create a webhook handler for Afriex payment events

The AI editor now has context about:

the infrastructure
the available tools
the integration patterns

which makes the development experience much smoother.

Security Notes

When using MCP integrations:

never expose your API keys publicly
avoid committing credentials to Git repositories
use environment variables where possible
rotate keys periodically

Treat your MCP configuration with the same care as production infrastructure credentials.

Where This Goes Next

Afriex MCP opens up workflows around:

payments
virtual accounts
payouts
reconciliation
infrastructure automation
fintech developer tooling

And this is still early.

As MCP ecosystems evolve, developer tools will become increasingly:

infrastructure-aware
execution-aware
workflow-aware

Final Thoughts

Setting up Afriex MCP inside Cursor only takes a few minutes.

But the implications are much bigger.

We’re moving toward a world where AI editors:

understand infrastructure
interact with APIs
assist with integrations
help orchestrate real systems

not just generate snippets.

And honestly, that changes how software gets built.

Resources

Afriex Business

https://business.afriex.com/

Afriex Documentation

https://docs.afriex.com/

Cursor

https://cursor.com/

Get Paid Globally, Without a Website with Loop(Built with MeDo)

0xSonOfUri — Wed, 06 May 2026 19:09:59 +0000

Getting paid globally is still harder than it should be.

If you’re a freelancer or small business owner, you often need:

a website
a payment processor
multiple tools for different payment methods

And even then, it’s fragmented.

So I asked a simple question:

What if getting paid globally was as easy as sending a link?

That’s how LOOP was born.

💡 What is LOOP?

LOOP is a simple payment tool that lets you:

→ Create a payment link
→ Share it with anyone
→ Get paid globally

No website required.

⚙️ What LOOP Can Do

Create invoices with multiple items
Generate shareable payment links
Accept payments via:
- Card
- Bank transfer
- Crypto (USDT / USDC)
Show real-time currency conversion
Generate downloadable receipts
Track transactions and balances
Send and receive memos
Get real-time notifications

🌍 Why This Matters

Many people across emerging markets don’t have:

websites
payment infrastructure
access to global payment systems

LOOP removes that barrier completely.

You just:

create → share → get paid

🛠️ How I Built It

I built LOOP using MeDo, an AI-powered application generation platform.

Instead of manually coding everything, I focused on:

product flow
user experience
system design

Key pieces:

React + Tailwind + shadcn (via MeDo)
Modular services:
- paymentService
- walletService
- transactionService
Dynamic payment links (/pay/[id])
Multi-payment simulation:
- card
- bank
- crypto

🔌 Using Plugins (ExchangeRate)

To make LOOP truly global, I integrated the ExchangeRate plugin.

This powers:

a currency converter widget
real-time conversion inside invoices

Example:

$50 ≈ ₦75,000

This helps both businesses and customers understand value instantly.

🧠 Key Challenges

1. Making it feel real without real payments

I had to simulate:

payment processing
confirmations
receipts

Without using actual payment APIs.

2. State persistence

Initially, everything reset on refresh.

Fix:
→ implemented local storage persistence
→ made the app feel like a real system

3. UX simplicity vs feature depth

I had to constantly balance:

powerful features vs
a simple user flow

🚀 What’s Next

Real payment integrations (bank APIs, crypto rails)
Authentication & multi-user support
Recurring payments
Advanced invoicing

🎥 Demo

Check out the full demo here:

Try the app:

LOOP Checkout

app-bd1hkbkbf7r5.appmedo.com

🧵 Final Thought

Building LOOP showed me that:

Great products aren’t about complexity — they’re about removing friction.

Built for the MeDo Hackathon

BuiltWithMeDo

Accept USDC / USDT Without Running Your Own Wallet Infrastructure (Afriex API)

0xSonOfUri — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:08:15 +0000

Stablecoins are becoming core infrastructure for global payments.

But building with them usually means:

managing private keys
running indexers
tracking on-chain activity

That’s a lot of overhead.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to accept USDC / USDT without running your own custody infrastructure, using the Afriex API.

What You’ll Build

A backend endpoint that returns deposit instructions (address + network)
A webhook system to confirm payments reliably
A production-ready flow using idempotency and retries-safe logic

The Mental Model

Stop thinking:

“I need to manage wallets”

Start thinking:

“I’m building on payment rails”

With Afriex:

You don’t generate private keys
You don’t run blockchain infrastructure
You rely on Afriex for:
- deposit attribution
- transaction state
- settlement

Your job is to:

create a payment / invoice object
show deposit instructions
confirm payments via webhooks

Step 0 — Setup API Access

Base URLs

Sandbox: https://sandbox.api.afriex.com
Production: https://api.afriex.com

Environment Variables

AFRIEX_API_BASE_URL="https://api.afriex.com"
AFRIEX_API_KEY="your-api-key"
AFRIEX_WEBHOOK_PUBLIC_KEY="your-public-key"

Example Request

curl -sS -G "https://api.afriex.com/api/v1/org/balance" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_AFRIEX_API_KEY"

Step 1 — Create Your Payment Object

Afriex does not create payment links for you.

You define your own invoice / payment intent:

{
  id: "internal_id",
  reference: "unique_reference",
  asset: "USDC",
  amount: 100,
  status: "pending",
  expiresAt: Date
}

Tip: Make reference globally unique and reuse it across retries.

Step 2 — Get Deposit Address

Endpoint

GET /api/v1/payment-method/crypto-wallet

Example

curl -sS -G "https://api.afriex.com/api/v1/payment-method/crypto-wallet" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "asset=USDC"

Response

{
  "data": [
    { "address": "0x...", "network": "ETHEREUM_MAINNET" },
    { "address": "TY...", "network": "TRON_MAINNET" }
  ]
}

Backend Example

const wallet = await fetch(url).then(res => res.json())

const preferred =
  wallet.data.find(w => w.network === "ETHEREUM_MAINNET") ??
  wallet.data[0]

return {
  address: preferred.address,
  network: preferred.network,
  asset: "USDC"
}

Important Note

This endpoint is:

Production only

It does not work in sandbox.

Step 3 — Display Payment Instructions

Your UI should show:

Asset (USDC / USDT)
Network
Address (copy + QR)

Also include:

Sending on the wrong network may result in lost funds

Step 4 — Confirm Payments (Webhooks)

This is the most important part.

Do NOT:

rely on user confirmation
rely on block explorers

Use Afriex webhooks.

Webhook Setup

Configure your webhook URL in the dashboard
Copy your webhook public key
Allowlist Afriex IPs

Signature Verification

import crypto from "crypto"

function verifySignature(signature, rawBody, publicKey) {
  const verifier = crypto.createVerify("RSA-SHA256")
  verifier.update(rawBody)
  return verifier.verify(publicKey, signature, "base64")
}

Important: verify the raw request body, not parsed JSON.

Events

TRANSACTION.CREATED
TRANSACTION.UPDATED

Logic

if (event === "TRANSACTION.UPDATED" && status === "SUCCESS") {
  markInvoiceAsPaid()
}

Ensure this operation is idempotent.

Step 5 — Idempotency

Outbound

Use:

{
  "meta": {
    "reference": "invoice_123",
    "idempotencyKey": "idem_invoice_123"
  }
}

Inbound

Webhooks may retry.

Ensure:

no duplicate credits
safe re-processing

Use database constraints or “update-if-not-paid” logic.

Step 6 — Reconciliation

Use Afriex APIs for support and debugging:

Get transaction
List transactions
Get balance

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

1. Crypto Wallet Not Working in Dev

→ It’s production only

2. Wrong Network Deposits

→ Only present one supported network

3. Webhook Verification Fails

→ Use raw body + correct public key

4. Duplicate Credits

→ Fix with idempotency

Why This Matters

Stablecoins are becoming:

Core rails for global payments

The real opportunity isn’t just using them.

It’s building systems on top of them.

Summary

With Afriex, you can:

Accept USDC / USDT
Avoid custody complexity
Use webhooks for reliable confirmation
Build production-ready payment systems

Final Thought

Afriex gives you the rails.

You build the product.

Getting Started with the Afriex API: From Signup to Your First Request

0xSonOfUri — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 12:00:48 +0000

What if you could start building global payment systems in minutes?

Before you can build payment links, payouts, or crypto flows — you need access to the Afriex API.

This guide walks you through going from zero → your first API call.

What You’ll Do

By the end of this guide, you’ll:

Create an Afriex Business account
Complete onboarding and verification
Generate your API key
Make your first API request

Step 1: Create an Afriex Business Account

Head to:

https://business.afriex.com/

Step 2: Select Entity Type

Choose the entity that applies to you:

Sole Trader / Sole Proprietorship → if you're an individual
Registered Company / Corporate → if you're a company

This determines the documents required during verification.

Step 3: Set Up Your Business

Fill in your details:

Phone number
Full name
Business name
Country of residence
Password

Step 4: Complete Verification

To unlock full API access, you’ll go through verification:

Provide company details
Upload documents
Add associated parties
Complete phone verification

This is required for compliance and security.

Step 5: Set Up Your Team (Optional)

From the dashboard, you can:

Add team members
Assign roles
Manage permissions

Useful if you're building with others.

Step 6: Generate Your API Key

Once your account is ready:

Go to Settings → API Keys
Generate a new key
Store it securely

Never expose your API key in frontend code or public repositories.

Step 7: Make Your First API Call

Now let’s test the API.

Create a Customer

curl -X POST https://sandbox.api.afriex.com/api/v1/customer \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "fullName": "John Doe",
    "email": "john.doe@example.com",
    "phone": "+2348192837465",
    "countryCode": "NG"
  }'

Expected Response

{
  "data": {
    "customerId": "69516dd0464b2213bd74cfad",
    "fullName": "John Doe",
    "email": "john.doe@example.com",
    "phone": "+2348192837465",
    "countryCode": "NG"
  }
}

Step 8: Process Your First Transaction

Once you have a customer, you can initiate a transaction:

curl -X POST https://sandbox.api.afriex.com/api/v1/transaction \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "customerId": "CUSTOMER_ID",
    "type": "WITHDRAW",
    "sourceAmount": "10",
    "destinationAmount": 5000,
    "sourceCurrency": "USD",
    "destinationCurrency": "NGN",
    "destinationId": "PAYMENT_METHOD_ID"
  }'

Important Notes

Use the sandbox environment for testing
Switch to https://api.afriex.com for production
Keep your API key secure
Always make API calls from your backend

Explore the Docs

https://docs.afriex.com/

You can also fetch the full index here:
https://docs.afriex.com/llms.txt

What Next?

Now that you have access, you can start building:

Payment links
Cross-border payouts
Crypto integrations
Multi-currency systems

Next guide: Send a Link, Get Paid: Building Payment Links with the Afriex API

Final Thought

Afriex gives you the rails.

You just made your first step into building on top of them.

Send a Link, Get Paid: Building Payment Links with Afriex

0xSonOfUri — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 17:45:56 +0000

Send a Link, Get Paid: Building Payment Links with the Afriex API

What if you could accept payments globally with just a link?

No checkout flows. No heavy integrations. Just a URL.

What This Guide Covers

This guide is about the Afriex API.

You’ll learn how to build a simple payment link system that allows you to:

Generate shareable payment links
Accept payments via bank transfer or crypto
Track payment status
Handle real payment confirmations

You do not need any specific framework. Your backend just needs to make secure HTTPS requests.

Afriex vs Your Application

Afriex provides the payment infrastructure.

You build the product layer.

Responsibility	Who
Virtual accounts, crypto wallets, settlement rails	Afriex
Payment link (URL), amount, expiry, status tracking	Your App
Confirming payments securely	Afriex Webhooks

System Architecture

Client → Backend → Afriex API → Payment Rails

Your backend stores payment requests
Afriex handles payment execution
Your frontend displays payment instructions

Prerequisites

Before starting, you need:

An Afriex account
Your API key
A customerId (Afriex identifier for the recipient)

Every payment instruction you generate should be tied to a customerId.

Authentication

All Afriex API calls are made server-side.

GET {BASE_URL}/... HTTP/1.1
x-api-key: YOUR_AFRIEX_API_KEY
Content-Type: application/json

Example:

curl -sS -G "{BASE_URL}/api/v1/payment-method/virtual-account" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_AFRIEX_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "currency=NGN" \
  --data-urlencode "amount=5000" \
  --data-urlencode "customerId=PAYEE_CUSTOMER_ID"

Step 1: Create a Payment Link (Your Backend)

Afriex does not create “payment links” for you — you implement this.

Store:

amount
currency
description
expiry
customerId
unique token

import crypto from "crypto";

const linkId = crypto.randomBytes(16).toString("hex");

await db.payment.create({
  linkId,
  amount: 5000,
  currency: "NGN",
  customerId,
  expiresAt: new Date(Date.now() + 30 * 60 * 1000),
});

Then generate:

https://yourapp.com/pay/{linkId}

Step 2: Generate Payment Instructions

When a user opens the link:

Load the payment request
Call Afriex
Return instructions

🇳🇬 Virtual Account (Bank Transfer)

curl -sS -G "{BASE_URL}/api/v1/payment-method/virtual-account" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_AFRIEX_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "currency=NGN" \
  --data-urlencode "amount=5000" \
  --data-urlencode "customerId=PAYEE_CUSTOMER_ID"

Display:

Account number
Account name
Bank name

Crypto Wallet (USDC / USDT)

curl -sS -G "{BASE_URL}/api/v1/payment-method/crypto-wallet" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_AFRIEX_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "asset=USDC" \
  --data-urlencode "customerId=PAYEE_CUSTOMER_ID"

Response:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "address": "0x...",
      "network": "ethereum"
    }
  ]
}

If USDC is unavailable, fallback to USDT.

Step 3: Choosing Payment Method

In your backend:

If currency = NGN → virtual account
If currency = USD → crypto wallet

This logic is controlled by your application, not Afriex.

Step 4: Confirm Payment (Production)

Do NOT rely on:

Button clicks
User confirmation

Use Afriex webhooks:

Receive event
Verify signature
Match to payment record
Mark as paid

Always handle this idempotently.

Security Checklist

Keep API keys server-side only
Use HTTPS
Use unguessable link tokens
Expire links
Verify webhooks

Why This Pattern Matters

This is the same pattern used by:

Stripe
Paystack
Flutterwave

Payment links are one of the fastest ways to start accepting payments globally.

Summary

To build payment links with Afriex:

Create a customer → get customerId
Store a payment request in your database
Generate a shareable link
Fetch payment instructions via Afriex
Confirm payments via webhooks

Next Steps

Add webhook automation
Support more currencies
Build dashboards
Add notifications

Final Note

Afriex gives you the rails.

You build the product.