Webhooks

Overview

Webhooks allow you to receive real-time HTTP notifications when events occur in your Monei account. Instead of polling the API, Monei pushes updates directly to your server. What you’ll learn:

Setting up webhooks
Webhook events
Verifying webhook signatures
Handling webhook deliveries
Retry logic
Best practices

How Webhooks Work

Event Occurs

An event happens in your Monei account (payment, transfer, etc.)

Webhook Sent

Monei sends an HTTP POST request to your webhook URL

Signature Verification

Your server verifies the webhook signature

Process Event

Your server processes the event data

Acknowledge

Your server responds with 200 OK

Retry (if needed)

Monei retries if your server doesn’t respond

Webhook Events

Monei sends webhooks for these events:

Naira Wallet
Offramp
Transactions

Deposit Events:

deposit.initiated - Deposit started
deposit.pending - Awaiting confirmation
deposit.completed - Deposit successful
deposit.failed - Deposit failed

Payout Events:

payout.initiated - Payout started
payout.processing - Being processed
payout.completed - Payout successful
payout.failed - Payout failed

Offramp Events:

offramp.initiated - Order created
offramp.deposit_received - Crypto received
offramp.processing - Converting to fiat
offramp.fiat_sent - Fiat sent to bank
offramp.completed - Transaction complete
offramp.failed - Transaction failed

Transaction Events:

transaction.created - New transaction
transaction.updated - Status changed
transaction.completed - Transaction done
transaction.failed - Transaction failed

Setting Up Webhooks

Configure your webhook endpoint in the Monei dashboard:

Go to Settings → Webhooks
Click Add Webhook
Enter your webhook URL (must be HTTPS)
Select events to receive
Save and copy your webhook secret

Your webhook URL must use HTTPS in production. HTTP is only allowed for local testing.

Webhook Payload

Monei sends webhook data in this format:

{
  "id": "evt_abc123xyz",
  "type": "bill.payment.successful",
  "created": 1708000000,
  "data": {
    "reference": "BILL-ABC123XYZ",
    "status": "successful",
    "amount": 1000,
    "currency": "NGN",
    "billerName": "MTN Nigeria",
    "customerName": "JOHN DOE",
    "customerId": "08012345678"
  }
}

Webhook Security

Verify Signatures

Always verify webhook signatures to ensure requests are from Monei:

const crypto = require('crypto');

app.post('/webhooks/monei', (req, res) => {
  const signature = req.headers['x-monei-signature'];
  const webhookSecret = process.env.MONEI_WEBHOOK_SECRET;
  
  // Verify signature
  if (!verifySignature(req.body, signature, webhookSecret)) {
    console.log('Invalid signature - rejected');
    return res.status(401).send('Invalid signature');
  }
  
  // Process event
  const event = req.body;
  console.log('Webhook received:', event.type);
  
  // Handle event
  handleWebhook(event);
  
  // Respond immediately
  res.status(200).send('OK');
});

function verifySignature(payload, signature, secret) {
  // Compute expected signature
  const expectedSignature = crypto
    .createHmac('sha256', secret)
    .update(JSON.stringify(payload))
    .digest('hex');
  
  // Compare signatures
  return crypto.timingSafeEqual(
    Buffer.from(signature),
    Buffer.from(expectedSignature)
  );
}

Handle Webhook Events

Process different event types:

async function handleWebhook(event) {
  console.log(`Processing event: ${event.type}`);
  
  switch (event.type) {
    case 'deposit.completed':
      await handleDepositCompleted(event.data);
      break;
      
    case 'payout.completed':
      await handlePayoutCompleted(event.data);
      break;
      
    case 'offramp.completed':
      await handleOfframpCompleted(event.data);
      break;
      
    case 'offramp.failed':
      await handleOfframpFailed(event.data);
      break;
      
    default:
      console.log(`Unhandled event type: ${event.type}`);
  }
}


async function handleDepositCompleted(data) {
  console.log('Deposit completed!');
  console.log('Amount:', data.amount, data.currency);
  
  // Update balance
  await updateUserBalance(data.userId, data.amount);
  
  // Notify user
  await sendNotification(data.userId, {
    title: 'Deposit Successful',
    body: `Your wallet has been credited with ₦${data.amount}`
  });
}

async function handleOfframpCompleted(data) {
  console.log('Offramp completed!');
  console.log('Crypto:', data.amount, data.token);
  console.log('Fiat:', data.fiatAmount, data.fiatCurrency);
  console.log('Bank:', data.bankName);
  
  // Update database
  await db.offramp.update({
    reference: data.reference,
    status: 'completed'
  });
  
  // Notify user
  await sendNotification(data.userId, {
    title: 'Offramp Complete',
    body: `₦${data.fiatAmount} sent to your ${data.bankName} account`
  });
}

Respond Quickly

Your webhook endpoint must respond within 10 seconds:

app.post('/webhooks/monei', async (req, res) => {
  // 1. Verify signature
  if (!verifySignature(req.body, req.headers['x-monei-signature'])) {
    return res.status(401).send('Invalid signature');
  }
  
  // 2. Acknowledge immediately
  res.status(200).send('OK');
  
  // 3. Process asynchronously (don't await)
  processWebhookAsync(req.body).catch(error => {
    console.error('Webhook processing error:', error);
  });
});

async function processWebhookAsync(event) {
  // Time-consuming operations here
  await handleWebhook(event);
}

Retry Logic

Monei retries failed webhook deliveries:

Attempt	Delay	Total Time
1st retry	1 minute	1 min
2nd retry	5 minutes	6 min
3rd retry	30 minutes	36 min
4th retry	2 hours	2h 36m
5th retry	6 hours	8h 36m

Handle idempotency:

async function handleWebhook(event) {
  // Check if already processed
  const existing = await db.webhooks.findOne({
    eventId: event.id
  });
  
  if (existing) {
    console.log('Event already processed:', event.id);
    return; // Skip duplicate
  }
  
  // Process event
  await processEvent(event);
  
  // Mark as processed
  await db.webhooks.create({
    eventId: event.id,
    type: event.type,
    processedAt: new Date()
  });
}

Testing Webhooks

Local Testing with ngrok

# Install ngrok
brew install ngrok  # macOS
# or
npm install -g ngrok

# Start your server
node server.js  # Running on port 3000

# In another terminal, start ngrok
ngrok http 3000

# Copy the HTTPS URL (e.g., https://abc123.ngrok.io)
# Use this as your webhook URL in Monei dashboard

Test Event Manually

# Simulate webhook event
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/webhooks/monei \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-monei-signature: test_signature" \
  -d '{
    "id": "evt_test123",
    "type": "bill.payment.successful",
    "created": 1708000000,
    "data": {
      "reference": "BILL-TEST123",
      "status": "successful",
      "amount": 1000,
      "currency": "NGN"
    }
  }'

Best Practices

Verify Signatures

Always verify webhook signatures before processing

Respond Quickly

Acknowledge within 10 seconds, process asynchronously

Handle Duplicates

Use event IDs to prevent duplicate processing

Use HTTPS

Webhook URLs must use HTTPS in production

Log Events

Log all webhook events for debugging

Monitor Failures

Set up alerts for webhook failures

Troubleshooting

Webhook Not Received

Possible causes:

Incorrect webhook URL
URL not accessible from internet
Firewall blocking requests
Server down

Solutions:

Verify URL is correct and HTTPS
Test with ngrok for local development
Check firewall rules
Verify server is running
Check webhook logs in Monei dashboard

Signature Verification Failed

Possible causes:

Wrong webhook secret
Modified request body
Incorrect signature algorithm

Solutions:

Verify webhook secret from dashboard
Don’t modify request body before verification
Use correct HMAC SHA-256 algorithm
Check signature header name: x-monei-signature

Timeout Errors

Problem: Webhook times out before respondingSolution:

Respond with 200 OK immediately
Process event asynchronously
Don’t perform long operations in webhook handler
Use background jobs/queues

Duplicate Events

Problem: Same event received multiple timesSolution:

Store processed event IDs
Check if event already processed
Make processing idempotent
Use database transactions

Next Steps

Guidelines

Security best practices

Best Practices

Additional security tips

Error Handling

Handle webhook errors

Testing

Test webhooks in sandbox

Introduction

Core Concepts

Account Management

Naira Wallet

EVM Blockchain

Solana

Offramp (Crypto to Fiat)

Bill Payments

Transactions

Security

Testing

Overview

How Webhooks Work

Webhook Events

Setting Up Webhooks

Webhook Payload

Webhook Security

Verify Signatures

Handle Webhook Events

Respond Quickly

Retry Logic

Testing Webhooks

Local Testing with ngrok

Test Event Manually

Best Practices

Verify Signatures

Respond Quickly

Handle Duplicates

Use HTTPS

Log Events

Monitor Failures

Troubleshooting

Next Steps

Guidelines

Best Practices

Error Handling

Testing

Introduction

Core Concepts

Account Management

Naira Wallet

EVM Blockchain

Solana

Offramp (Crypto to Fiat)

Bill Payments

Transactions

Security

Testing

​Overview

​How Webhooks Work

​Webhook Events

​Setting Up Webhooks

​Webhook Payload

​Webhook Security

​Verify Signatures

​Handle Webhook Events

​Respond Quickly

​Retry Logic

​Testing Webhooks

​Local Testing with ngrok

​Test Event Manually

​Best Practices

Verify Signatures

Respond Quickly

Handle Duplicates

Use HTTPS

Log Events

Monitor Failures

​Troubleshooting

​Next Steps

Guidelines

Best Practices

Error Handling

Testing

Overview

How Webhooks Work

Webhook Events

Setting Up Webhooks

Webhook Payload

Webhook Security

Verify Signatures

Handle Webhook Events

Respond Quickly

Retry Logic

Testing Webhooks

Local Testing with ngrok

Test Event Manually

Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Next Steps