Business Hierarchy
The Pagamio VAS platform organises every account into a multi-level business hierarchy. The position of your account in this hierarchy determines what you can see, what you can do, and which products you can transact on.
The Hierarchy
Partner
└── Vendor
└── Merchant
└── Sub-Merchant
A Channel is associated with each level and represents a specific point of sale or integration channel (e.g., a USSD application, a mobile app, a POS terminal).
| Level | Description |
|---|---|
| Partner | Top-level business entity onboarded by Pagamio. Owns one or more vendors. |
| Vendor | A business unit under a partner. Owns one or more merchants. |
| Merchant | The transacting entity. Sells VAS products to end customers through one or more channels. |
| Sub-Merchant | A child of a merchant. Sells VAS products to end customers through one or more channels. |
What This Means For Your Integration
Your API user is created at one specific level of the hierarchy. The level dictates:
- Which API endpoints you can call. See Access & Permissions.
- Which products you may sell. See Product Availability.
- Which transactions you can see. You can only query transactions that belong to your account or its descendants.
If you are unsure of your account level, contact your Pagamio account manager.
Last updated: April 2026