Download our Guide to South African Payment Gateways
PayPal
The most well-known global payment gateway is PayPal (www.paypal.com). Even though a South African developed PayPal, the company did not offer merchant services to South African based companies for a long time. This changed in 2010 and It’s now relatively simple to setup a PayPal account in South Africa. PayPal charges no setup or cancellation fees and offers transaction rates as low as 2.4% to 3.4%, plus $0.30 USD.
Clients can choose between the PayPal Express Checkout, which provides a seamless checkout for PayPal account holders via an API integration or the PayPal Standard Checkout, where PayPal authorizes payments and then returns the online customer to your website.
Pay4It
Pay4It provides e-commerce solutions for small to medium businesses. A subsidiary of REDi Internet Services, Pay4It will even host and develop the online retailer’s website and make it entirely ready for e-commerce transactions. Pay4It charges a R750 +VAT once-off setup fee, a R250 monthly subscription fee and levies a 6% fee on each transaction. Pay4It does not require online retailers to register a merchant account with their bank before registering.
Pay4It is a one-stop-shop for all online e-Commerce requirements and offers its clients a full portfolio of web design and development services, in addition to its payment gateway services. Pay4It will also happily send clients a full integration guideline document and allow client’s developers access to the Pay4It technical team, to assist with the integration process.
Website Address: www.pay4it.co.za
Contact Number: 0866 09 7334
Email Address: info@redi.co.za
Sage Netcash
Sage Netcash transacts directly with 4 of the larger banks – Standard Bank, First National Bank, ABSA and Nedbank, and through Bankserv, with the smaller banks and is able to guarantee service levels and payment clearance times.
Primarily used by retailers as a debit order collection service, it also enables retailers to add a payment gateway service to their websites. Sage Netcash requires online retailers to register online and will then respond with a service agreement for completion by the retailer. Sage NetCash caters both for merchant account holders and for sole proprietors and is willing to sign up a sole proprietor, once assessed via their personal bank account.
Sage Netcash prides itself on a quick turn-around time with registrations and does not lock its clients into a fixed time frame contract. Furthermore, online retailers can cancel their registration with Sage Netcash at any time should they be dissatisfied with the service, without incurring any penalties or cancellation fees. Sage Netcash charge a R450 setup fee, with a R160 per month retainer. Sage Netcash charges R1 per transaction, plus 5% of the transaction value.
Sage Netcash focuses on creating and implementing efficient and easy payment gateway services and as such, the data validation component of their systems is available to all clients, as a web service which can be integrated into the client website or account management software. Sage Netcash’s portfolio of services also includes a comprehensive reporting system.
Website Address: www.netcash.co.za
Contact Number: 0861 338 338
Email Address: service@netcash.co.za
MonsterPay
MonsterPay is the favoured choice for smaller businesses. MonsterPay is a Setcom company and does not charge a setup or monthly subscription fee. MonsterPay’s transaction fees are also the lowest in this category, with a 2.9% per-transaction fee, plus R2.
MonsterPay provides a variety of payment gateway tools and integration tools for clients’ websites. Integration tools offered include: Auto-Redirect, Auto-Post and Synchronization facilities. A full implementation and integration guide is available for download from theMonsterPay website.
MonsterPay also offers a wide range of selling tools for its clients. These include a shopping cart; Buy Now and Checkout buttons; catalogue and mail listing; customizable payment pages; a shipping calculator; tax calculator and downloadable statements.
Website Address: www.monsterpay.com
Contact Number: 083 913 0000
Email Address: http://www.monsterpay.com/email.cfm
SID
SID is another Setcom company and it provides the only instant EFT service in South Africa, called SID Payment. SID Payment is an assisted EFT (electronic funds transfer) that allows the customer to make payment directly to a merchant using their existing Internet banking facility.
If a customer has never used SID before, they will be asked to run the application. The customer will then be directed to their chosen bank site where they can login to make payment. The merchant’s banking details will be pre-populated on the payments page. Once the customer completes the payment and receives the receipt, their order will be fulfilled straight away, without having to fax the confirmation to the merchant. SID merchants save substantially on banking fees, plus SID transactions are charged at only 1.5% per transaction, which cuts down even more on costs for the merchant.
Website Address: www.sidpayment.com
Contact Number: 011 555 1101
Email Address: http://www.sidpayment.com/email.aspx
2CheckOut
2CheckOut offers a payment gateway service with no waiting period and no term contracts. 2CheckOut also supports recurring billing and will work with existing shopping carts.
A signup fee of $49USD is levied by 2CheckOut with a 5.5% commission on each transaction, along with a $0.45USD charge per transaction. With no monthly, gateway or statement fees, 2CheckOut also makes it possible for customers to purchase products with PayPal, as well as the most popular online payment methods.
2CheckOut provides its clients with an easy to integrate payment gateway service, which will work with many existing shopping carts and includes a range of comprehensive account management tools. 2CheckOut clients are required to maintain a website containing complete marketing, advertising and product information themselves.
Website Address: www.2checkout.com
Contact Number: https://www.2checkout.com/contact
Email Address: https://support.2co.com/deskpro/newticket.php
Payfast
PayFast does not charge monthly fees – only per-transaction fees.
PayFast is geared towards South African sellers (who serve both local and international buyers) and is constantly looking for innovative new ways to serve this market. PayFast is used by individuals, businesses and charities. Charities enjoy a per-transaction fee that is lower than for businesses and individuals.
When a buyer makes a purchase, the funds (minus a nominal fee) will immediately reflect in your PayFast account. By generating a Payout, the funds are moved to your South African bank account of choice. In addition to credit card payments, Instant EFT makes up more than half of their transac- tions. Instant EFT allows buyers to pay via a bank transfer with South Africa’s biggest four banks which gets verified instantly. This is a PayFast patented system and these transactions don’t run the risk of repudiation/costly chargebacks.
PayFast also processes Ukash; vouchers that are available at over 420,000 retail locations all across the world and mimoney; a virtual currency backed by Standard Bank which resides on your mobile phone. They are working on integrating with PayD which will allow you to process PIN-enabled debit cards, sometime in 2012.
Their per-transaction fees are outlined on https://www.payfast.co.za/s/std/fees and they don’t charge any setup or monthly fees.
PayFast provides a number of pre-built modules for a number of eCommerce engines/shopping carts, including Jigoshop, Magento, MarketPress, Opencart, WordPress WP eCommerce and Woocommerce. A complete list can be seen at www.payfast.co.za/s/std/shopping-carts
PayFast also integrates with Vendorshop, which allows sellers to run promotions, engage with fans and sell products or services right from their Facebook page, without the need for a dedicated shopping cart.
Lastly, they have some of the highest standards of security in the field, with a myriad of checks, as outlined here: https://www.payfast.co.za/s/std/security. PayFast customers include bidorbuy (Africa’s largest marketplace), takealot.com, MedicAlert, Ticketpros, CityMob and more.
Website Address: https://www.payfast.co.za
Contact Number: 0861 729 327
Email Address: support@payfast.co.za
evriPay
evriPay does not charge monthly or set-up fees – only per-transaction fees. evriPay currently provides processing for transactions in South Africa, but will soon provide these services in other African countries.
evriPay is focussed on small and new businesses and will get a business up and trading immediately after the application form has been successfully completed. All applications are completed online.
evriPay currently provides two products for eCommerce. “Express” is a typical “Buy Button” and requires the business to have a website, while PayMi (pronounced “pay me”) is an electronic invoice with the card payment embedded in it. evriPay does not charge setup or monthly fees. Credit card transactions are charged at 3.4% of the transaction, plus R2.70.
Website Address: www.evripay.com
Contact Number: 011 269 4012
Email Address: info@evripay.com
Related: South African Payment Gateways that require bank registration.