Deposit to Virtual Account

Add funds to an existing virtual account. This operation requires sufficient funds in your business balance account.

Endpoint: https://api.chapa.co/v1/virtual-account/credit
Method: POST
Authorization: Pass your secret key as a bearer token in the request header to authorize this call.

Request Parameters

Parameter	Required	Type	Description
`account_number`	Yes	string	The unique identifier of the virtual account to be credited
`amount`	Yes	number	Amount to be deposited into the virtual account
`tx_ref`	No	string	Your reference for this credit transaction (optional)
`note`	No	string	Reference or description for the deposit transaction

Example Request Body

{
  "account_number": "1234567890",
  "amount": 1000,
  "tx_ref": "REF_1234",
  "note": "Deposit for February 2025"
}

Example Request

cURL

PHP

Python

Successful Response

{
  "status": "success",
  "message": "Amount Deposited Successfully",
  "data": {
    "account": {
      "account_name": "Abebe Bikila",
      "account_number": 100314252,
      "account_alias": "1234542",
      "balance": 40,
      "status": "active",
      "currency": "ETB",
      "created_at": "2025-02-21T08:06:54.000000Z",
      "updated_at": "2025-02-21T08:09:54.000000Z"
    },
    "deposit": {
      "tx_ref": "VTkVnh5ScB",
      "note": "Connecting Ethiopia to the Global Market",
      "amount": 20,
      "currency": "ETB",
      "created_at": "2025-02-21T08:09:54.000000Z"
    }
  }
}

Response Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`status`	string	Status of the request (success/error)
`message`	string	Description of the operation result
`data.account.account_name`	string	Name associated with the virtual account
`data.account.account_number`	number	Unique identifier of the virtual account
`data.account.account_alias`	string	Custom reference name for the account
`data.account.balance`	number	Current balance after credit
`data.account.status`	string	Current status of the account
`data.account.currency`	string	Currency of the account
`data.account.created_at`	string	Timestamp of account creation
`data.account.updated_at`	string	Timestamp of last account update
`data.deposit.tx_ref`	string	Your reference for this credit transaction
`data.deposit.note`	string	Description provided for the credit
`data.deposit.amount`	number	Amount credited in this transaction
`data.deposit.currency`	string	Currency of the credit
`data.deposit.created_at`	string	Timestamp of the credit transaction

Failed Response

{
  "status": "error",
  "message": "Virtual Account Not Found"
}

Your business balance must have sufficient funds to process the deposit successfully.

Refer to our Error Codes page for all responses for this request.

Use Cases

Top-up Accounts: Add funds to customer virtual accounts
Refunds: Credit refunds to virtual accounts
Rewards: Deposit rewards or bonuses to accounts
Balance Management: Transfer funds between business and virtual accounts

Next Steps

Create Virtual Account - Create a new virtual account
Get Virtual Account - Retrieve virtual account details
Error Codes - Handle errors gracefully