The member portal

The member portal is a self-service site for your members at /portal on your Collector address. It's optional and additive — nothing in the admin console depends on members using it — but it's the easiest way to collect: members see exactly what they owe and can pay it on their phone.

What members can do

• See their balance — outstanding arrears, front and center.
• View their statement — obligations by period and product, with what's paid and what's pending.
• Download their statement of account — a PDF with every charge and payment, receipt numbers, and a running account ledger. Admins can generate the same statement for any member from the member's page.
• Download a giving statement — a per-fiscal-year PDF of everything they gave, totalled by product — the classic annual contribution statement.
• See their payment history — every payment, regardless of whether they paid online or a treasurer recorded it as cash, with one-click receipt download or re-send to email.
• Pay online — by card or mobile money (MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash, AirtelTigo Money, Visa, Mastercard) via Paystack. Either an amount of their choosing, or a one-tap Pay on a specific obligation.
• See fundraising campaigns — running campaigns, their own pledge status, a contribute button, and self-service pledging on campaigns they haven't pledged to yet.
• Follow their payment plan — members on an active payment plan see its progress, the next installment, and the full schedule.
• Manage their account — change their password, set notification preferences (SMS/email opt-outs), and request profile updates that staff review before they take effect.

A member on an active payment plan also sees their plan card:

Granting portal access

Portal access is granted per member from the admin console: open the member's page and click Portal access. Enable access and set an initial password to share with the member — they can change it themselves once signed in.

Member sign-in

Members sign in at /portal/login with their member number, phone, or email and their password.

There's a forgot password flow — members receive a reset link by email, so make sure SMTP is configured in Settings before inviting members.

Password resets need an email on file

Members can sign in with any identifier, but the self-service reset link is sent by email. A member without an email address will need an admin to set a new password from the Portal access dialog.

The account page

From the header, members can open Account to:

• see the profile details the organization has on file;
• request an update to their contact details — the request is held for staff review (see below) so the register stays authoritative;
• choose notification preferences — opt out of SMS or email reminders (official receipts are always emailed);
• change their password.

Reviewing profile update requests

When a member requests a change, staff see it in two places: a banner on the Members page listing everyone with a pending request, and a review panel on the member's own page showing each field current → requested, side-by-side. Approve & apply writes the change to the register (and the audit log); Reject returns it with a note the member sees in their portal.

How online payment works

1. The member signs in and taps Pay now.
2. They choose the amount and are handed to Paystack's secure checkout — card or mobile money.
3. After the charge, Collector verifies the payment directly with Paystack on the server before counting it. The browser is never trusted.
4. The verified payment is allocated to the member's obligations oldest-first — exactly like a cash payment — a numbered receipt is emailed, and the statement updates immediately.

If the member closes the browser mid-payment, or Paystack's webhook and the member's return race each other, no harm done: confirmation is idempotent and a payment can never count twice.

Checkouts that are started but never completed don't linger either: a nightly sweep re-verifies every stale pending payment with Paystack — confirming (and allocating) any that actually went through but whose confirmation was lost — and expires the rest, so the member's dashboard never shows a stuck "awaiting confirmation" notice for a payment that isn't coming.

Enabling the portal's online payments

Online payment requires Paystack keys under Settings → Online Payments (Paystack):

1. Enter your Paystack secret and public keys.
2. In your Paystack dashboard, set the webhook URL to https://<your-collector-address>/api/v1/portal/paystack/webhook.

See Organization settings.

Fees

Paystack's transaction fees are usage-based and paid to Paystack. Collector never takes a percentage of your collections.