Payment gateways for South African online stores compared

The main payment gateway options for a South African online store are Payfast, Peach Payments, Yoco, Ozow, Paystack, Netcash and DPO Pay. No single one is best. The right choice depends on your store platform, the payment methods your customers use, how you want to be paid out and whether you need subscriptions or sales outside South Africa.

The details below were checked on each provider's own website on 10 October 2026. Providers change their features often, so confirm anything that matters to you before you sign up. Fees are left out on purpose. They change, and they depend on your volumes.

Two things to know first

• Shopify Payments is not available in South Africa. South Africa is not on Shopify's list of supported countries, so a South African Shopify store uses a third-party payment provider.
• Stripe points South African businesses to Paystack. Stripe's global availability page lists South Africa under its extended network and links to Paystack. Paystack describes itself as a Stripe subsidiary focused on Africa.

The gateways

Payfast

Payfast offers two products. Its payment methods page marks some methods as available on only one of them, so check which product you are signing up for.

• Payment methods: Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards, Instant EFT, Capitec Pay, Absa Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, SnapScan, Zapper, Scan to Pay, Payflex, MoreTyme, Mobicred, RCS store cards and PayPal are among those listed.
• Platforms: Payfast lists more than 70 plugins, including WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, Ecwid and Gravity Forms.
• Onboarding: company, sole trader and non-profit accounts must be verified before they can accept payments. Payfast asks for proof of identity, proof of address and proof of bank account.
• Payouts: on the standard product you request a payout or schedule automatic payouts from your Payfast balance. Payfast's help pages say the available balance excludes a 48-hour withholding period.
• Gateway product: the enterprise gateway, previously found at paygate.co.za, is aimed at larger businesses and works with an internet merchant account at your bank.

Suits: stores that want a wide range of local payment methods on one account, on most platforms.

Peach Payments

• Payment methods: the Peach Payments directory lists Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Diners Club cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Capitec Pay, Pay by Bank, Scan to Pay, Mobicred, RCS, 1Voucher, PayPal and several buy now, pay later options, including Payflex, PayJustNow and Float.
• Platforms: WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, Wix, Ecwid, Gravity Forms, nopCommerce and OpenCart. Peach also lists integrations with hospitality systems.
• Other features: recurring and subscription payments, payment links, embedded checkout and payouts to bank accounts.
• Onboarding: Peach says it screens every merchant before they can trade.
• Markets: South Africa, Kenya and Mauritius.

Suits: mid-sized and larger stores, subscription businesses, and businesses that also sell in Kenya or Mauritius.

Yoco

• Payment methods: Visa and Mastercard, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Yoco's gateway page also refers to EFT payments.
• Platforms: WooCommerce, Shopify, Wix and Shopstar, plus custom sites through its API. Payment links work without a website.
• Onboarding: online payments are switched on from an existing Yoco profile, which must be verified.
• Payouts: online sales are added to your existing Yoco payout schedule, and Yoco says funds arrive within a maximum of two business days. Instant payouts are an option.

Suits: small businesses, especially those that already use a Yoco card machine and want online and in-person sales in one place.

Ozow

• Payment methods: Ozow's core product is Pay by Bank, also called instant EFT. It also lists Capitec Pay, Absa Pay, Nedbank Direct EFT, PayShap Request, card payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
• Platforms: Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, OpenCart, PrestaShop and others.
• Other features: refunds, payouts and payment requests.

Suits: stores that want to offer bank payments next to a card gateway. Paystack and Netcash both name Ozow as the provider behind their instant EFT option, so check whether you already have it before adding it separately.

Paystack

• Payment methods: cards, bank payments by Instant EFT through Ozow, Capitec Pay and SnapScan. Paystack's help pages say the EFT and Capitec Pay options need an additional review before activation and support once-off payments only.
• Platforms: WooCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce, Ecwid, OpenCart and others.
• Availability: Paystack says its services are available to businesses registered in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Kenya.

Suits: businesses building a custom checkout with a developer, and businesses that also trade in the other African countries Paystack serves.

Netcash

• Payment methods: credit and debit cards, Instant EFT including Ozow, bank EFT, Payflex, 1Voucher, Scan to Pay, retail payments and Visa Click to Pay.
• Platforms: WooCommerce, Shopify and Ecwid.
• Payouts: payments settle into a Netcash merchant account, in rand only. From there you can withdraw to your bank account or pay salaries and creditors.

Suits: businesses that already use Netcash for salaries or creditor payments and want online payments on the same statement.

DPO Pay

• Payment methods: Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards, mobile money wallets such as M-PESA, Airtel Money and MTN MoMo, and EFT options.
• Markets: DPO lists South Africa alongside Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Zambia, Namibia and Botswana, among others.
• Platforms: DPO's site refers to shopping cart integrations. Confirm the plugin for your platform with DPO.

Suits: stores that sell into several African countries and need mobile money as well as cards.

How to choose

• Choose on platform first. Confirm that the gateway has a maintained plugin for your store, whether that is WooCommerce or Shopify. See WooCommerce vs Shopify.
• Choose a gateway with many local methods when your customers are consumers who expect to pay by card, bank payment, QR code or instalments.
• Choose a gateway with recurring billing when you sell subscriptions or memberships. Check that your preferred payment method supports recurring payments, because some do not.
• Choose the provider you already use when you have a card machine or a merchant account with one. One statement is simpler to reconcile.
• Choose a pan-African provider when you sell in more than one African country.
• Add a bank payment option when some of your customers prefer not to pay by card.

A store can run two gateways: one for cards and wallets, and one for bank payments or instalments.

Before you sign up

1. Check the provider's current fee page and ask about settlement times in writing.
2. Start verification early. Providers check the business before it can trade, and that takes time.
3. Ask how refunds and chargebacks are handled.
4. Test a real payment and a refund on each method before launch.
5. Keep the gateway plugin updated. See WooCommerce maintenance.

Stryx builds online stores, usually on WooCommerce or Shopify, and the payment gateway is chosen as part of an e-commerce build. To talk through a store, get in touch.