Lock your wallet
Turn your PayMongo Wallet off in one verified step to stop all money movement, and turn it back on whenever you're ready.
Overview
Locking your Wallet stops money from moving in or out of it. Use it when you suspect your account has been compromised, when you want the Wallet idle during a quiet period, or any time you'd rather nothing moved without your say-so.
Your balance is untouched while the Wallet is locked. Nothing is withdrawn, forfeited, or closed — the Wallet simply stops transacting until you unlock it.
The Lock and Unlock buttons sit beside the Your PayMongo Wallet heading on your Wallets page.
Only the Account Owner can lock or unlock the Wallet.
Team members with other roles don't see the button. See Roles and permissions for what each role can do.
What stops while your Wallet is locked
A locked Wallet can't send or receive money. On the Wallets page, these become unavailable:
| Action | Where |
|---|---|
| Top up | Wallet balance card |
| Send funds | Quick actions |
| Send to many | Quick actions |
| Saved Recipients | Quick actions |
| Scan QR | Quick actions |
| Show QR | Quick actions |
Your balance, transaction history, and ledger stay visible and unchanged the whole time.
Lock your Wallet
- Log in to your PayMongo Dashboard and go to Wallets.
- Beside Your PayMongo Wallet, click Lock.
- Read the confirmation — "While locked, your wallet can't send or receive money. Your balance stays where it is, and you can unlock it any time." — then click Lock wallet.
- Verify it's you. See How verification works below.
Once verified, you'll see "Wallet locked successfully" and the button changes to Unlock.
Unlock your Wallet
- Go to Wallets.
- Beside Your PayMongo Wallet, click Unlock.
- Verify it's you.
Once verified, you'll see "Wallet unlocked successfully", and top up and the quick actions become available again. There's no confirmation step on unlocking — verification alone is enough.
How verification works
Every lock and unlock is verified before it takes effect, the same way sending funds is. You'll be asked for one of:
| Method | Notes |
|---|---|
| Authenticator app (TOTP) | Offered first if you have one set up — no code is emailed in that case |
| Email OTP | Sent to your registered email address |
| Passkey | Offered if you have a passkey registered on the device |
SMS is not accepted for this action. For setup and troubleshooting, see Multi-factor authentication.
The change only applies after verification succeeds.
If you close the verification window or the code fails, your Wallet stays in the state it was already in.
When the button isn't there
The Lock and Unlock buttons appear only when the Wallet is in a state you can change yourself. In every other state, a badge beside the heading tells you what's holding it:
| Badge | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Locked by PayMongo | PayMongo has locked the Wallet. It can't send or receive, and it can't be unlocked from the Dashboard. | Email [email protected] to have it released |
| Frozen | The Wallet is suspended and can't send or receive. | Contact [email protected] |
| Awaiting activation | The Statement of Acceptance hasn't been signed yet, so the Wallet has never been activated. | Sign the Statement of Acceptance in your Dashboard |
| Unavailable | The Wallet's status can't be read right now. | Refresh the page, then contact support if it persists |
A Wallet you locked yourself shows no badge — just the Unlock button. That's how you tell your own lock apart from a PayMongo one at a glance.
A PayMongo lock overrides yours
A lock set by PayMongo takes precedence over anything you set in the Dashboard. When one is in place, the Wallets page shows a red banner reading "Your wallet has been locked by PayMongo", the Lock and Unlock buttons are unavailable, and attempting the change anyway returns "PayMongo has locked this wallet. Contact [email protected] to have it released."
Unlocking in this case is handled by PayMongo, not from your Dashboard. Email [email protected] and we'll tell you what's needed to release it.
Record of changes
Locking and unlocking are sensitive actions, and each one is attributed to the Account Owner who performed it:
- You receive an email notification each time the Wallet is locked or unlocked.
- The change is recorded in your Security logs, with a timestamp and the account that made it. See Security logs.
Related reading
- Wallets — wallet types, limits, and statuses.
- Manage your balance — how funds arrive in your Wallet and how to top up.
- Send money — moving funds out to a bank account or e-wallet.
- Multi-factor authentication — set up an authenticator app or passkey.
Updated 1 day ago