A payment gateway service is required before you can accept credit card payments through your website. The gateway service or payment processor is responsible for the security of the transaction. This is usually done by using SSL on a customisable webpage where your customer enters their credit card details.
Although there are other payment gateway providers in South Africa, the following key players concerning Payment Gateways. At LabRats we will gladly work with any of the following Payment Gateway Providers but recommend PayFast highly.
PayFast
PayFast is becoming a leader amongst payment gateways in South Africa. Not only do they accept Visa & Mastercard, but they also have an EFT banking system to allow someone to pay from their cheque or savings account with a safely and securely. They also use the world wide accepted U-Kash system that allows users to pay with U-Kash that they bought anywhere in the world. A local supplier of U-Kash for online transactions is Pick n Pay in South Africa.
PayFast works similar to PayPal and they offer PayFast vouchers with which you can pay and buy online with your PayFast account making them a safe and reliable way to buy and pay online.
PayFast has also partnered with Standard Bank offering mimoney which is a virtual wallet system allowing you to pay for your transactions using your mobile phone. You do not need a credit card to make use of minoney.
Need to send a once off payment to your client, no problem this system allows you to integrate a specific online custom transaction into an email.
PAYFAST IS HIGHLY RECCOMMENDED & USED BY LABRATS WEB DESIGN STUDIO
Virtual Card Services
VCS work with ABSA, Nedbank, Standard Bank and First National Bank. They have a strict policy on including documentation on your website such as a privacy statement, disclaimer, return policy and so on.
PayGate
PayGate is a service that requires a bank account with Standard Bank, a merchant account and has a strict policy on documentation on your website (i.e. privacy policy, returns policy, disclaimer, etc).
MyGate
MyGate is currently working with First National Bank and also offer a debit order facility for subscription services.
NetCash
Netcash is used primarily as a debit order collection service, which can be done via your customers’ bank account or credit card. Netcash now also offer a payment gateway service for your shopping cart.
SetCom
Setcom is South Africa’s answer to PayPal. Setcom is often the easiest option, particularly for smaller businesses as they do not require that you have a merchant account, do not require a set up fee and there are no monthly costs. The catch is that their transaction fees are somewhat higher.
Setcom also offers additional gateways such as:
- Monster Pay - Person to person payments on your wesite
- Sid Payment (SD) - Accept instant EFT payments on your website
- RevoPin - Accept PIN debit card payments on your website.
What about PayPal?
PayPal was developed by a South African and initially PayPal was not available in South Africa. However with South Africa catching up to international accepted standards PayPal is now available through First National Bank.
Please look into this option carefully as PayPal has its charges and First National Bank has additional charges for this facility which could make it quite expensive in the long run.
If you will be having a large international base of clients purchasing from your online store then we highly recommed that you use PayPal in conjuction with a South African payment gateway providor.
