You 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.

There are, however, a number of alternative payment gateways in South Africa which are well-established and reputabled.

There are two types of Payment Gateway providers in South Africa – those which require a client to register as an internet merchant with a South African Bank, and those that do not. In this article, we outline those that do not require clients to register as an internet merchant with a South African Bank.

UPDATED 18/02/2011:

Pay4It (www.pay4it.co.za) 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 making it entirely ready for e-commerce transactions.

Pay4It charges a R750 +VAT once-off setup fee, R250 monthly subscription fee, and levies 6% per each transaction. Pay4It does not require online retailers to register a merchant bank account with their bank before registering.

Pay4It is a one-stop-shop for all your 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 enable clients’ developers access to the Pay4It technical team, to assist with the integration process.

UPDATED 18/02/2011:

Netcash (www.netcash.co.za) transacts directly with the 4 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.

Netcash requires online retailers to register online, and will then revert with a service agreement for completion by the retailer. 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.

Netcash prides itself on a quick turn-around time with registrations, and does not lock its clients into a fixed timeframe contract. Further, online retailers can cancel their registration with Netcash at any time, should they be dissatisfied with the service, without incurring any penalties or cancellation fees.

Netcash charge a R450 setup fee, with a R160 per month retainer. Netcash charges R1 per transaction, plus 5% of the transaction value.

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. Netcash’s portfolio of services includes a comprehensive reporting system.

UPDATED 18/02/2011:

MonsterPay (www.monsterpay.com) (formerly known as Setcom) is the favoured choice for smaller businesses, as it does not require a merchant account to be registered beforehand. Whilst they don’t charge merchants a setup or monthly subscription cost, their transaction fees are slightly higher.

MonsterPay takes a small percentage fee of each transaction made through its services but also does not charge any monthly fees. The MonsterPay service provides Rand and US Dollar credit card acceptance.  Acceptance of Instant EFT via SID and direct deposits are also provided for Rand. This service is unique to MonsterPay and no other payment gateway can provide Instant EFT facilities. To receive payments via MonsterPay will cost you 2.9% per transaction plus $0.30 USD for Dollars. For South African Rand transactions, it will cost you 2.9% per transaction, plus R2 ZAR.

MonsterPay provides a variety of payment gateway tools and integration tools for clients’ websites. Integration tools offered include: Auto-Redirect; Auto-Post and Synchronisation facilities. A full implementation and integration guide is available for download from the MonsterPay website.

MonsterPay 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.

UPDATED 18/02/2011:

2CheckOut (www.2checkout.com) offers a 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 and a 5.5% commission on each transaction, along with a $0.45USD charge per transaction. With just a 5.5% and %.45USD charge per sale, 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 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.

UPDATED 18/02/2011:

Payfast (www.payfast.co.za) does not charge monthly fees – only per-transaction fees. Offering four types of accounts, Payfast is geared entirely towards payment processing for South Africa only.  Payfast does not require a client to register as a merchant with a South African bank.

Payfast’s Basic Account is intended only for users who only send money, whilst the Personal Account is geared towards regular users who need to pay online stores, and receive small amounts of money for online goods or services.  A Premier Account is intended for use by online retailers who need to accept money from customers and who are able to accept credit card payments. The Business Account focuses on larger businesses, who send and receive larger amounts of money on a regular basis. The Basic Account does not require you to have a South African Bank Account but, the Personal, Premier and Business accounts do.

PayFast does not charge setup or monthly fees, or charge users a fee to send money. To receive funds, however, Payfast charges a minimum of 2% on an Instant EFT and PayFast Voucher transaction. For a credit card transaction, Payfast charges 4.9% of the transaction plus an extra R2, and 7% of the transaction amount on a Ukash transaction. Payouts cost R8,77 and all selling tools offered by Payfast are free to use. Payfast accepts payments from South African clients; by credit card and by UKash clients from all over the world.

PayFast provides a number of pre-built modules for a number of e-Commerce engines/shopping carts. These include: OSCommerce; VirtueMart, ZenCar and CubeCart. PayFast enables you to simply and quickly add their facilities to your website, and provides a full, easy to read integration guide on their website. PayFast has also enabled UKash (www.ukash.com) on their systems. UKash enables a client to buy things online without needing a credit card or even a bank account.

A variety of options are available for those wanting to enable their e-commerce website, and clients are offered a wide variety of options and account types.

Related: South African Payment Gateways that require bank registration.