27 Jul The Major South African Payment Gateways

Choosing the Right Payment Gateway Can Save Your Business Thousands

Accepting online payments has never been easier, but choosing the right payment gateway can have a significant impact on your business. From transaction fees and settlement times to international payments, multi-currency support and Buy Now Pay Later options, every payment solution offers a different combination of features. Selecting the right provider can improve your customers’ checkout experience, increase conversion rates and support your long-term business growth.

In this guide, we’ve compared the Top 10 payment gateways and online payment solutions available to South African businesses, including Peach Payments, PayFast, Stitch, Yoco, Ozow, PayGate, SnapScan, Payflex, Mobicred and PayPal. Whether you’re launching your first online store or looking to upgrade your existing payment solution, this comparison will help you understand the strengths of each platform and choose the best option for your business.

1. Peach Payments (Best Overall)

Best for: Growing businesses and international sales

• Multi-currency support
• WooCommerce & Shopify
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay
• Subscription billing
• Strong API
• International checkout

Verdict:

2. PayFast

Best for: Small to medium businesses

• Trusted in South Africa
• Easy setup
• Cards
• Instant EFT
• SnapScan
• Zapper
• Mobicred

Verdict:

3. Stitch

Best for: Modern businesses

• Excellent APIs
• Cards
• Instant EFT
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay

4. Yoco

Excellent if you have both:

• Physical store
• Online store

5. Ozow

• South Africa’s Instant EFT specialist.

6. PayGate

• Enterprise gateway.
• Banks love it.
• Excellent reputation.

7. SnapScan

• Not really a gateway.
• More of a payment method.
• Fantastic to offer alongside your main gateway because many South Africans already have it installed.

8. Payflex

• Buy Now Pay Later.
• Very good for:
• Fashion
• Electronics
• Furniture
• Jewellery
• Increases conversion rates.

9. Mobicred

• Credit facility.
• Ideal for:
• Higher-value purchases.

10. PayPal

• Still important.
• Especially if you sell internationally.
• Not always the cheapest.

Other Payment Solutions Worth Considering

• Happy Pay
• Capitec Pay
• Scan to Pay
• Zapper
• Google Pay
• Apple Pay
• Samsung Pay
• Masterpass (where still supported)

Which One Do We Recommend?

Best Overall: Peach Payments

Best for SMEs: PayFast

Best APIs: Stitch

Best Instant EFT: Ozow

Best Buy Now Pay Later: Payflex

Best Credit Facility: Mobicred

Best Enterprise: PayGate

Best Mobile Payments: SnapScan

Gateway	WooCommerce	Shopify	Monthly Fee	Instant EFT	Recurring Billing	International
PayFast			No		Limited
Peach Payments			No
Stitch			No
Yoco			No		Limited
Ozow			No			Limited
PayGate			Varies