How Global routing works

Global Payments move money across countries through one endpoint: POST /api/global/payments. The same request shape handles collections (request_type: payment) and payouts (request_type: withdrawal).

Every global payment is discovery-driven. Before paying, you ask discovery what the country supports, then copy the network you choose into the request.

Discover the rails, providers and networks for the country.
Choose a rail, a provider on it, and a network in the right direction.
Map that network onto provider_config.
Create the payment and wait for the callback.

New to the API? The Integration guide walks the whole path in order.

1. Discover

curl "$PH_BASE_URL/api/global/discovery/discover-rails?country=UG" \
  -u "$PH_API_USERNAME:$PH_API_PASSWORD"

<?php
$ch = curl_init("$baseUrl/api/global/discovery/discover-rails?country=UG");
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_USERPWD => "$username:$password",
]);
$discovery = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
curl_close($ch);

import requests

discovery = requests.get(
    f"{base_url}/api/global/discovery/discover-rails",
    auth=(username, password),
    params={"country": "UG"},
).json()

const auth = Buffer.from(`${username}:${password}`).toString("base64");

const response = await fetch(
  `${baseUrl}/api/global/discovery/discover-rails?country=UG`,
  { headers: { Authorization: `Basic ${auth}` } },
);

const discovery = await response.json();

The response, trimmed to one provider’s networks:

{
  "country": "UG",
  "currency": "UGX",
  "rails": { "bank": false, "card": true, "crypto": false, "momo": true },
  "available_providers": {
    "card": ["vabupay"],
    "momo": ["yc"]
  },
  "provider_networks": {
    "yc": [
      {
        "network_id": "04a3083a-567c-4a2b-aa39-fa8f19e64341",
        "network_name": "Airtel Mobile Money",
        "network_code": "AIRTEL_UGANDA",
        "channel_id": "e167def0-c4f0-46e2-aaa9-50046f13b0a7",
        "channel_type": "momo",
        "account_type": "phone",
        "ramp_type": "deposit",
        "min_amount": 15000,
        "max_amount": 3000000,
        "provider": "yc",
        "status": "active"
      },
      {
        "network_id": "04a3083a-567c-4a2b-aa39-fa8f19e64341",
        "network_name": "Airtel Mobile Money",
        "network_code": "AIRTEL_UGANDA",
        "channel_id": "e573694c-d9d2-4511-8dec-aa633baf19f3",
        "channel_type": "momo",
        "account_type": "phone",
        "ramp_type": "withdraw",
        "min_amount": 15000,
        "max_amount": 3000000,
        "provider": "yc",
        "status": "active"
      }
    ]
  },
  "required_fields": {
    "yc": {
      "provider_config": {
        "channel_id": true,
        "network_code": true,
        "network_id": true,
        "network_name": true
      }
    },
    "vabupay": {
      "customer": { "email": true, "first_name": true, "last_name": true, "phone": true },
      "redirect_url": true
    }
  },
  "provider_operations": {
    "yc": { "b2c": true, "c2b": true },
    "vabupay": { "b2c": false, "c2b": true }
  }
}

Reading it

rails — only rails that are true can be used, and a rail is true only when a provider you are assigned actually offers it.
available_providers — provider codes, keyed by rail.
provider_networks — each provider’s networks. A network appears once per direction: the same Airtel network above has a deposit entry and a withdraw entry, with different channel_ids.
required_fields — what each provider rejects a payment without. Treat it as the checklist for that provider’s provider_config, customer and URLs.
provider_operations — c2b means the provider can collect, b2c that it can pay out.

The answer only covers providers assigned to your account — an account with none discovers nothing. See the Integration guide.

2. Map the network onto the request

Request field	Take it from	Example
`transaction_channel`	The rail you chose	`momo`
`provider`	A code from `available_providers[rail]`	`yc`
`provider_config.network_id`	The network’s `network_id`	`04a3083a-567c-4a2b-aa39-fa8f19e64341`
`provider_config.network_name`	The network’s `network_name`	`Airtel Mobile Money`
`provider_config.network_code`	The network’s `network_code`	`AIRTEL_UGANDA`
`provider_config.channel_id`	The network’s `channel_id`, for the right `ramp_type`	`e167def0-c4f0-46e2-aaa9-50046f13b0a7`
`provider_config.account_type`	The network’s `channel_type`	`momo`

network_id and network_code are different values — send each exactly as discovery gives it. Send only what is in the network and what required_fields asks for; vendor_config.channel_id applies only to Kenya collections that settle to a local bank, paybill or till.

3. Amounts and currencies

Send amount and currency in the country’s currency — the currency in the discovery response — with at most two decimal places. Stay within the network’s min_amount and max_amount.