Documentation

Collecting client charges

Process payment for charges that have been applied to client accounts. Charge collection is typically initiated from Symba Microbanking, which opens this payment workflow in a new tab.

How it works

Charge collections use a Provider-First approach for incoming money:

  1. A payment request is sent to the payment provider (or cash is confirmed)
  2. The provider confirms payment was received
  3. ONLY THEN is the payment recorded in Microbanking and applied to the charge

This approach ensures that money is received BEFORE it's recorded on the charge, preventing crediting payments that were never actually received.

Prerequisites

Log in to Symba Portal with a user account that has permission to collect client charges.

The client must have pending charges on their account.

Collection Workflow

The charge collection process follows these steps:

1. Select Payment Method

When you first access the collection page, choose how the payment will be received:

  • Cash - Physical cash payment
  • Mobile Money - Mobile money payment (MTN MoMo, M-PESA, etc.)

Available payment methods depend on:

  • Your user permissions
  • Payment integrations configured for your organization

2. Find the Client (if needed)

If you navigated directly to the collection page:

  • Enter the client account number in the search field
  • Press Enter or click "Search"
  • Select the client from the search results

Note: When initiated from Symba Microbanking, the client is automatically selected.

3. Select the Charge (if needed)

If multiple charges are pending:

  • Review the list of unpaid charges
  • Each charge shows:
    • Charge name
    • Due date
    • Outstanding amount
  • Click on the charge to pay

Note: When initiated from Symba Microbanking, the charge is automatically selected.

4. Confirm and Process Payment

Review the payment details and complete the collection:

For Cash Payments:

  • Verify the payment amount (can be adjusted for partial payment)
  • Click "Collect Now" to confirm receipt of cash
  • The charge is immediately marked as paid

For Mobile Money Payments:

  • Verify the payment amount (can be adjusted for partial payment)
  • Enter the customer's mobile money phone number
  • Click "Collect Now" to send the payment request
  • The customer receives a prompt on their phone to approve the payment
  • The transaction status updates when the customer completes or declines the payment

Important notes

  • You can adjust the payment amount to collect less than the full outstanding balance (partial payment)
  • Payment amounts cannot exceed the outstanding balance for the charge
  • For mobile money, ensure the phone number is correct before submitting
  • Cash payments are recorded immediately and cannot be automatically reversed
  • Mobile money payments may take a few moments to complete while waiting for customer approval
  • The phone number field is pre-filled with the client's registered mobile number if available

When charge collections get stuck

A mobile money charge collection becomes "stuck" when the payment provider's response is ambiguous. This can happen in these situations:

  • Payment request timeout - The request timed out before the client responded
  • Provider server error - The provider returned an error with unclear payment status
  • Recording failed - Payment was confirmed received but failed to record in Microbanking (CRITICAL)
  • Unknown error - An unexpected error occurred

If a charge collection gets stuck, it must be manually resolved by verifying whether the payment was actually received and choosing the appropriate action.

CRITICAL scenario: If you see a stuck charge with "CRITICAL:" in the status message, this means the client's payment was received but not recorded on their charge. This requires immediate resolution to ensure the client is properly credited.

Accessing from Symba Payments Directly

You can also initiate charge collection directly from Symba Payments:

  • Click "Payments" in the main navigation menu
  • Click "Collection" in the submenu
  • Click "Charges" in the tab menu
  • Click "Collect Charge" button
  • Follow the steps above, starting with payment method selection

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