5 Best Payment Gateways in South Africa For WooCommerce: A payment gateway will most likely be used if you want to accept online payments on your website. A payment gateway allows you to accept payments via bank cards and other methods. But picking one is difficult. You must consider the costs, payment methods, and additional services. To assist you in making this decision, I have reviewed the best payment gateways in South Africa in this article.
| Payment Types | ||||
| Gateway | Local Cards | International Cards | Instant EFT | Payout Fee |
| Peach Payments | 2.95% + R1.50/transaction | 3.50% + R1.50/transaction | 1.50% + R1.50/transaction | R2.80 Per EFT |
| Gateway | Local Cards | International Cards | Instant EFT | Payout Fee |
| Payfast | Credit and Cheque Card – 3.2% + R2/transaction | NA | 2% + R2/transaction | R8.70 Flat regardless of the value |
| Debit – 3.5% + R2/transaction | ||||
| Gateway | Local Cards | International Cards | Instant EFT | |
| Paygate | 3.5% | 3.5% | NA | |
| Gateway | Local Cards | International Cards | Instant EFT | |
| YOCO | 2.95% | 3.4% | NA | |
| Gateway | Local Cards | International Cards | Instant EFT | Payout Fee |
| PayPal | 3.9% + $0.3 + 2.5%(Currency Conversion Fee) | 3.9% + $0.3 + 2.5%(Currency Conversion Fee) | NA | 0.81% to 1.51% (Per Transaction) |
Peach Payments
Peach Payment was founded in 2009 with the goal of revolutionizing online payments in South Africa. They are now a well-established player in the field. They process over R1 billion in payments for their merchants each month.
Peach Payments accepts local and international cards, as well as EFT, Masterpass, and Mobicred. Their enterprise package also includes PayPal and multi-currency payment options.
Peach Payments charges 2.95% plus R1.50 per card transaction. EFT payments are less expensive at 1.5% + R1.50 per transaction. With their growth plan, there are no setup or monthly fees, and payments are made weekly. An enterprise package is available for businesses that transact more than R300,000 per month. This enterprise package costs R500 per month in fixed fees.
PayFast
Payfast is one of the simplest payment gateways to use. You can create an account in a matter of minutes. Accounts are usually approved within a couple of days after you submit your documentation. Payfast has many different payment methods, which is one of its main advantages. It includes credit and cheque cards, as well as instant EFTs with the majority of South Africa’s major banks (FNB, Capitec, Absa, Standard Bank, Nedbank, and so on). They are also compatible with Zapper, SnapScan, Mobicred, Scode, and Masterpass. This provides a wide range of options from a single supplier. Payfast also provides cash advance solutions based on your platform transaction history.
Paygate
Paygate is yet another well-known payment gateway in South Africa. They, like Payfast, are owned by the DPO Group. DPO has offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg and works with over 100,000 merchants in 19 countries.
Paygate accepts payments through a variety of channels. You can accept secure online card payments from Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Diners Club members all over the world. You can also use the SiD Secure EFT service to receive instant EFT payments. Paygate also accepts payments via Zapper, SnapScan, Mobicred, Paypal, and MTM MomoPay.
Paygate provides two distinct packages. The Paygate Switch package allows you to be paid in real-time, but it requires a merchant account. It is the most cost-effective if you process large volumes, with a base fee as low as 0.25%.
Paygate Plus, the other option, does not require a merchant account. Every 72 hours, funds are settled. Paygate Plus charges a transaction fee of 3.5% on all transactions. Both packages are month-to-month and accept cards, QR codes, and all other Paygate payment methods.
Yoco
Yoco is well-known for its credit card machines, and they also provide a South African online payment gateway. Their goal is to make it as simple as possible for entrepreneurs to get paid and grow their businesses. Yoco currently handles payments for over 200,000 businesses.
Yoco makes it very simple to open an account and begin receiving payments. It only takes a few minutes to complete the process. The Yoco payment gateway allows you to accept payments directly from your website. All transactions are encrypted with 3D-Secure, and funds are transferred to your bank account within two business days.
In terms of payment methods, Yoco accepts payments made with any Visa or Mastercard.
Yoco’s online payment transaction fees begin at 2.95%, with no minimum or fixed fee per transaction. Fees are also reduced based on your monthly transaction volume. When you reach R80,000 per month, the transaction fee drops to 2.6%. If you process more than R100,000, you can even negotiate custom rates with Yoco directly. Yoco’s transaction fee for international card payments starts at 3.45% and drops to 3.05% depending on your monthly sales volume.
Yoco’s payment gateway is compatible with a variety of eCommerce platforms, including Portmoni, Wix, WooCommerce, and Shopstar.
Overall, Yoco is a fantastic solution with an extremely user-friendly interface.
PayPal
Paypal was one of the first companies to facilitate online payments. They remain one of the industry’s most trusted brands. Unfortunately, Paypal does not accept payments in South African Rands at this time. However, it is one of the few options for receiving foreign currency payments from South Africa.
However, due to regulations and foreign exchange controls in South Africa, setting up and managing a Paypal account is quite complicated. Indeed, Paypal accounts must be linked to a FNB account before funds can be withdrawn into a South African bank account. PayPal balances must also be withdrawn within 30 days of funds receipt. It is not possible to hold your funds in your Paypal account and spend them from there.
Using Paypal in South Africa incurs a number of fees:
- Paypal charges a 3.4% + $0.30 USD transaction fee (which can be reduced to 2.4% depending on volume).
- FNB charges a withdrawal fee of 1.52% (which can be reduced to 0.81% depending on volume).
- A currency conversion fee (typically around 2%).
- Finally, if you use a payment gateway to process Paypal payments, you will be charged a fee ranging from 2.5% to 3.5%.
The fees will total between 5% and 10% of the transaction amount, which is quite high.
Choosing the best payment gateway in South Africa is critical to the success of your company. The cost is an important consideration. Trust in the payment partner you choose, as well as the ease of use of the solution, are also important factors to consider.
Payfast is the best eCommerce payment gateway in South Africa, depending on your needs. It offers numerous payment options, is simple to set up, and is reasonably priced.
Yoco is another excellent option if you only require credit card processing. Their user interface is excellent and simple to use, and their brand is well-known and trusted. Yoco can be integrated with an EFT payment portal such as Ozow. Their solution connects to the most common South African banks.
