How to Accept Payments on a WordPress Site in The Gambia
The Gambia punches above its size online. Birdwatching guides, beach lodges along the Senegambia strip, river excursion operators, and guesthouses in Kololi and Bakau all rely on websites to reach the European visitors who arrive each season. Craft vendors and small exporters use the web to sell to buyers who discovered them on holiday. A large share of these sites run on WordPress, and most of them share one weakness: there is no way to pay on the site itself.
That weakness is expensive in a tourism economy. A traveller in Amsterdam or Manchester planning a November trip wants to secure a lodge room or a fishing excursion now, with a card. If the website only offers an email address and a promise to sort payment on arrival, some of those bookings quietly go to a competitor who can take a deposit today. And as of 2026, Stripe and Square do not support The Gambia as a merchant country, so the standard international plugins are not an option for Gambian businesses.
This guide covers a workable route: the free HandyPay Payments plugin for WordPress, which lets a Gambian business take card payments on any page and receive payouts to a local bank account.
Why Online Card Payment Matters More in a Tourism Economy
Day to day, The Gambia runs largely on cash, with bank transfers used for bigger sums and mobile wallet services growing. The dalasi handles local life perfectly well. The complication is that a big portion of Gambian tourism revenue starts overseas, before the visitor ever lands at Banjul.
Overseas customers cannot hand you cash, and international bank transfers to Gambian accounts are slow and costly for the sender. Card payment through your website is the one method that works identically for a customer in Sweden, Germany, or the UK. For a lodge or guide, that means confirmed bookings and deposits collected months ahead of the season rather than hoping the visitor shows up with euros in hand.
There is a second benefit for repeat trade: past guests who want to order crafts, sponsor a community project, or book again can pay directly from your site without anyone exchanging bank details over email.
What the HandyPay Payments Plugin Provides
HandyPay Payments is a free plugin listed on WordPress.org. It connects a WordPress site to a HandyPay merchant account, and The Gambia is one of the countries HandyPay supports. Signing up happens online with identity verification, and no card machine or other hardware is involved.
With the plugin active, you can place payment buttons and payment links on any page or post using a shortcode, a Gutenberg block, or an Elementor widget, whichever matches how your site was built. Button styles are customizable, so a payment button on a lodge booking page can match the rest of the design.
The plugin supports one-time payments and donations. For Gambian organizations that receive support from abroad, such as schools, clinics, and community projects with European partners, the donation option is a practical way to receive contributions by card without setting up anything technical.
Setting Up, Start to Finish
Step 1: Register with HandyPay. Complete the online signup and identity verification, and add the Gambian bank account where you want your payouts.
Step 2: Install the plugin. In the WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins, then Add New, search for HandyPay, and install and activate HandyPay Payments.
Step 3: Connect the two. The plugin joins to your HandyPay account through a one-click connection from the Merchant Portal.
Step 4: Build your payment page. Add a button with the block, shortcode, or Elementor widget. A lodge might create one button per room type or a single deposit button; a guide might list one button per excursion.
Step 5: Test before the season. Click through the checkout yourself and confirm everything completes, ideally well before peak bookings begin.
No step requires a developer, which matters in a market where technical help is not always around the corner.
Fees and Payouts for a Gambian Business
On the free plan, each transaction costs 4.9% plus US$0.40, with no monthly fee and no additional charge for the plugin. The Pro plan, at US$29 per month, reduces the rate to 4.2% plus US$0.40 and makes sense once volume is steady, for example during the November to April tourist season.
Fees are set in US dollars, so translate them against your dalasi or euro-quoted prices. On a typical excursion deposit or a nightly room rate, the percentage is the main component and the fixed US$0.40 is minor. Pricing and settlement currency support varies by country, so check the options available for The Gambia in the HandyPay app before finalizing your rates.
Payouts are sent to your local bank account on a daily schedule and typically arrive within 2 to 4 business days.
How the Routes Compare for a Gambian Website
| Route | Upfront Cost | Works for Overseas Guests | Effort per Booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay cash on arrival | None | Risky, no commitment | High, chasing confirmations |
| International bank transfer | None | Slow and costly to sender | High, manual matching |
| HandyPay Payments plugin | Free plugin | Yes, standard card payment | Low, automatic |
| Third-party booking platforms | Commission per booking | Yes | Low, but commissions add up |
Booking platforms bring visibility but take a commission on every stay and own the customer relationship. A payment button on your own site keeps direct bookings direct.
Beyond the Website Button
The plugin is one door into a wider account. The same HandyPay account gives a Gambian business payment links shareable by WhatsApp, SMS, or email, which suits the WhatsApp-heavy way guides and guesthouses already talk to guests. It also provides QR code payments for in-person moments, like a craft stall or a lodge reception, and recurring subscriptions for anything billed regularly. You manage all of it from the iOS and Android apps or the web Merchant Portal, so a guide in the field can confirm a payment from a phone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there any charge for the plugin itself?
No. HandyPay Payments is free on WordPress.org and there is no added plugin fee. Only HandyPay's standard transaction fees apply when someone pays.
Can businesses in The Gambia use Stripe or Square instead?
As of 2026, Stripe and Square do not support The Gambia as a merchant country, so Gambian businesses cannot open merchant accounts with them. The plugins built on those services will not work here.
Can a tourist in Europe pay through my site before their trip?
Yes. That is the core use case. International cards are processed like any other card payment, so guests can pay deposits or full bookings from anywhere.
What happens to no-shows if I take deposits online?
Deposits collected at booking time sharply reduce no-shows, because the guest has committed money. Your cancellation terms should be stated clearly on the booking page.
Where does my money go?
Payouts are made to your local bank account on a daily schedule and typically arrive within 2 to 4 business days. Settlement currency options vary by country, so confirm the details for The Gambia in the app.
Do I need any technical skill to add a button?
No. The button goes onto a page through a shortcode, a Gutenberg block, or an Elementor widget, with customizable styling and no coding.
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- WordPress Payments in Ghana
- How to Accept Payments on a Website