PayfastB75
Payment Processor · South African small and mid-size online sellers, sole traders and registered non-profits that want to accep…
Overview
Payfast is a practical way for a South African business with no merchant account to start taking cards, Instant EFT, wallets, QR apps and buy-now-pay-later online, at published prices and with plug-ins for most shopping carts. It is not cheap, at 3.2% + R2.00 ex VAT per card payment plus R8.70 for every payout, and its terms give it wide room to delay, withhold or hold funds. We grade it B-. The pricing is transparent and the payment-method coverage is broad. Against that, the general terms run for 36 months and renew automatically, they allow a minimum monthly fee that is not published, and recent Trustpilot and HelloPeter reviews describe stalled verification and frozen balances.
Best for: South African small and mid-size online sellers, sole traders and registered non-profits that want to accept many local payment methods without opening a bank merchant account, and that process modest volumes.
Strengths
- + Published per-method prices, with a worked example and calculator on the fees page
- + No merchant bank account needed to start accepting cards and Instant EFT online
- + One of the broadest sets of South African payment methods on one checkout, including Capitec Pay, QR apps, store cards and buy-now-pay-later
- + Instant EFT and Capitec Pay cost 2% + R2.00 ex VAT, well below the card rate
- + Immediate Payout lets verified merchants draw cleared funds within minutes
- + Merchants can end the agreement on 60 days' written notice without penalty, despite the 36-month term
Trade-offs
- – Every price is quoted excluding VAT, so the real cost is higher than the headline
- – R8.70 ex VAT on every standard payout, plus a 48-hour hold before funds become available
- – General terms allow a minimum monthly fee when volume is R20,000 or less, set in the application rather than published
- – Wide rights to delay or withhold settlement, with withheld funds kept for up to 540 days after termination
- – Trustpilot score of 1.4 from 62 reviews, with recent complaints about verification delays and frozen funds
- – Gateway pricing for larger merchants is quote-only
Fees in detail
- Online rate: 3.2% + R2.00 per card (ex VAT)
- International: Online, Payfast lists one card rate (3.2% + R2.00 ex VAT) and no separate surcharge for foreign Visa and Mastercard cards. On the card machi
- Disputes: Payfast recovers each chargeback amount, plus the fees associated with processing it, from your sales or by debit to your bank account (gene
Standard published rate for a domestic online card payment. Confirm current pricing on Payfast's pricing page.
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