Frequently asked questions

Require an advance deposit at the moment of booking — before the appointment is confirmed. When clients have money on the line, they show up or they forfeit it. Hapo automates this entirely: your booking page collects the deposit via Mobile Money before the slot is locked in, so no booking is confirmed without payment. The mechanism works because it shifts the consequence from you to the client. Previously, missing an appointment cost the client nothing — they simply stopped picking up the phone. With an advance in place, a no-show means losing real money from their Mobile Money wallet. Most clients who have paid choose to attend. For those who do not, Hapo automatically marks the slot as a no-show and credits the forfeited deposit to your account balance, so you are compensated without any manual follow-up.

An advance deposit booking system requires clients to pay a portion of the service fee upfront, at the exact moment they make a booking, before the appointment slot is confirmed. The deposit holds the slot and creates a financial consequence for not attending. If the client attends, the advance counts toward their final balance and they pay only the remainder on the day. If they do not show, they forfeit the advance automatically — no negotiation required. Traditional booking systems let clients reserve time at zero cost, which is why no-shows are so common. Deposit-first booking turns a loose commitment into a financial one. Hapo implements this model specifically for Ghana's service economy, using Mobile Money as the deposit payment rail so that the barrier to payment is as low as possible for Ghanaian clients.

Yes. Hapo has a free plan supporting up to 15 bookings per month across up to 3 services, with no credit card required and no time limit. The free plan is a fully functional booking tool — clients can discover your availability, choose a service, and confirm a booking. Advance deposit collection, the feature that eliminates no-shows by requiring upfront payment before a slot is confirmed, is available on paid plans starting at GHS 99 per month (Starter). The Starter plan supports 150 bookings per month and unlimited services. The Growth plan (GHS 249/month) supports 600 bookings and suits full-time professionals with high demand. The Business plan (GHS 599/month) offers unlimited bookings for studios and teams. All plans are billed monthly in GHS with no long-term contract required.

No. Clients book through a mobile-friendly web page and do not need to install any application, create an account, or sign up for Hapo. You share your unique booking link — in your TikTok bio, Instagram story, WhatsApp status, or anywhere else you reach clients — and the client taps it to open your booking page in their browser. From there they select a service, choose an available time, enter their contact details, and pay the advance deposit via Mobile Money or card, all within the same browser session. The payment is processed through Paystack and the slot is confirmed automatically once it clears. Hapo sends the client an SMS and email confirmation. Your dashboard at app.gethapo.com reflects the new booking instantly. No app download is ever required on either side.

Hapo is built for appointment-based service professionals in Ghana whose income depends on clients showing up. The platform is used by makeup artists, photographers, event planners, videographers, caterers, bridal stylists, henna artists, fashion designers, spa and massage therapists, personal trainers, decorators, and DJs and MCs. What these professionals share is a booking structure where time is sold in advance and a no-show means a complete loss of that slot — supplies bought, tools prepared, other clients turned away. The advance deposit model is most valuable where service delivery requires significant preparation before the client arrives. Hapo's Mobile Money integration means clients across all backgrounds can pay an advance without needing a bank account or debit card, making the platform practical for the full range of Ghana's service economy.

If you need to cancel an appointment that a client has already paid a deposit for, the right course of action is to issue a full refund of the advance deposit. Hapo's deposit forfeiture mechanism exists to protect professionals from client no-shows — it is not a mechanism for retaining client funds when the cancellation is on your side. You can initiate a refund from your dashboard at app.gethapo.com. A professional who regularly cancels on clients who have already paid advances risks damaging client trust and reputation, which in a referral-driven market like Ghana's service industry carries real long-term cost. The deposit model is most effective when both parties understand the terms clearly: the advance protects the professional's time, and a professional who cancels honours the refund without delay.

You can withdraw your available account balance to your Mobile Money wallet at any time from the dashboard at app.gethapo.com. Your balance is made up of forfeited no-show deposits and any other amounts that have settled to your Hapo account. Hapo uses Paystack as its payment processor, and withdrawals follow Paystack's standard settlement and payout schedule for Ghana. You initiate the withdrawal from the Withdrawals section of your dashboard, confirm your Mobile Money number, and the funds are sent to your MTN MoMo, or Telecel Cash wallet. There is no minimum withdrawal period imposed by Hapo beyond Paystack's standard settlement window. Your dashboard always shows your current available balance so you know exactly how much is ready to withdraw at any given time.

Hapo uses Paystack to process all deposit payments. Standard Paystack transaction fees apply to each deposit collected — including Mobile Money and card transactions. These fees are set by Paystack and reflect the rates for Mobile Money payments (MTN MoMo, Telecel Cash) and card transactions in Ghana. You should review Paystack's current fee schedule at paystack.com for the exact rates that apply. Hapo does not charge an additional transaction fee on top of Paystack's rates. Whether the fee is absorbed by you or factored into the deposit amount you charge clients is a commercial decision you make when setting your pricing. Hapo's monthly plan pricing (GHS 0 to GHS 599/month) covers platform access and is separate from the per-transaction Paystack fees.

Hapo is available to service professionals and their clients across all regions of Ghana. Because the platform operates entirely online and uses Mobile Money as its primary payment method — a payment rail available nationwide through MTN, Telecel, and Vodafone networks — there is no geographic restriction within Ghana. You can be based in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Tamale, Cape Coast, or any other city or town and use Hapo to take bookings and collect advance deposits. Your clients do the same: they open your booking link in any mobile browser, pick a time, and pay via whichever Mobile Money network they use. The booking and payment confirmation flow is fully automated regardless of where you or your client are located within Ghana.

If a client's Mobile Money payment fails — due to insufficient funds, network issues, or a failed PIN entry — their booking is not confirmed. The slot remains open and available for other clients to book. The client can try again immediately: Hapo's checkout allows them to retry the payment or choose a different method, such as another Mobile Money network or a card. A failed payment does not immediately cancel the booking attempt — the client has a short window to complete payment before the attempt expires. If they do not complete payment within that window, the booking attempt expires and the slot is released automatically. This ensures that slots are never tied up by incomplete payments, protecting your availability calendar from phantom bookings that waste your time.

Yes. When you configure your Hapo booking page, you set up each service individually with its own name, price, duration, and advance deposit amount. This means you can require a larger deposit for a bridal package than for a standard booking, or a different deposit for a full-day photography shoot versus a portrait session. The deposit amount for each service is shown to clients when they select that service on your booking page, so there is no ambiguity about what is required. The flexibility to configure per-service deposits is available on paid plans (Starter and above), where advance deposit collection is enabled. You can adjust deposit amounts at any time from the Services section of your dashboard at app.gethapo.com without any waiting period.

Yes. Booking information — names, contact details, appointment records — is stored securely and used only to facilitate your bookings and send automated reminders. Hapo does not sell client data to third parties. Payment processing is handled entirely by Paystack, which is PCI-DSS compliant, meaning Hapo never handles or stores your clients' Mobile Money credentials, card numbers, or banking details. Paystack receives and processes the payment directly and returns a confirmation to Hapo once the transaction clears. For full details on what data Hapo collects, how it is stored, and how you and your clients can exercise your data rights, see the Hapo Privacy Policy at gethapo.com/privacy/.