Choosing a payment gateway feels like a small decision when you’re building a store. It isn’t. The wrong choice costs you in transaction fees, customer abandonment at checkout, integration headaches, and refund processing pain. Get it right and you forget about it forever. Get it wrong and it bleeds revenue every month.

We’ve integrated PayFast, Ozow, Peach Payments and PayGate across more than 200 South African Shopify and WooCommerce stores. Here’s how they actually compare in 2026.

The four contenders at a glance

1. PayFast — the default for most SA stores

Transaction fees: 3.2% + R2 per card transaction, lower for instant EFT (2%, minimum R2).

Setup: Easy. Maybe 2 hours from sign-up to first transaction. No FICA verification headaches if your business documents are in order.

Strengths:

• Accepts credit card, debit card, instant EFT, Masterpass, SnapScan, Zapper, Mobicred
• Excellent Shopify and WooCommerce integration
• Recurring billing supported (good for subscriptions)
• Strong fraud screening built in
• Familiar to most SA consumers — trust is high

Weaknesses:

• Fees are slightly higher than competitors at scale
• Customer support can be slow
• Settlement is T+1 (next business day), some competitors are faster

Best for: Most stores under R200k/month in revenue. The default choice unless you have a specific reason to pick something else.

2. Ozow — instant EFT specialists

Transaction fees: 1.5% (minimum R1) for instant EFT. Lower than card fees almost everywhere.

Setup: Quick once your business is verified. Banking integrations work out of the box.

Strengths:

• Lower fees than card payments
• Instant EFT customers can’t dispute chargebacks the way card customers can
• Excellent for high-AOV stores where 1-2% fee savings matter
• Quick settlement times
• Customer doesn’t need to enter card details — just signs in to their bank

Weaknesses:

• Instant EFT is the core product. Ozow now also takes cards (2.85%, tiered), but the EFT checkout still needs online banking
• Some customers don’t trust entering bank login on a third-party page
• Conversion is typically lower than card checkout unless your audience is EFT-comfortable

Best for: B2B stores, high-AOV consumer stores, anywhere your customers are EFT-savvy. We recommend running Ozow alongside PayFast — give customers the choice.

3. Peach Payments — the scale option

Transaction fees: 2.95% + R1.50 per card transaction (instant EFT 1.5% + R1.50), negotiable for high volume.

Setup: More rigorous onboarding. Expect a week of back-and-forth on FICA, business documents and bank account verification. Worth it if you’re going to do volume.

Strengths:

• Competitive card rates (2.95% + R1.50, below PayFast’s 3.2% + R2)
• Excellent technical documentation and APIs
• Strong fraud tools and 3D Secure handling
• Multi-currency support for international sales
• Negotiable rates above R500k/month volume

Weaknesses:

• Onboarding takes longer than competitors
• Some plugins less polished than PayFast equivalents
• Customer-facing checkout doesn’t have the same brand recognition as PayFast

Best for: Stores processing R200k+/month, brands expanding internationally, anyone selling outside SA in multiple currencies.

4. PayGate — the veteran

Transaction fees: Negotiated per merchant, with no published rate card. Typical card quotes we see range from 2.95% to 3.5% depending on volume.

Setup: Established process. Takes about a week.

Strengths:

• One of the oldest and most reliable SA gateways
• Solid Shopify integration via official app
• Strong reputation with established brands
• Good customer support

Weaknesses:

• Feels dated next to newer competitors
• Fewer payment methods than PayFast
• Checkout flow is functional but not as smooth

Best for: Established brands already on PayGate (don’t break what works). New stores generally have better options.

The fee maths on a real store

Let’s say your store does R200,000 per month, with an average order value of R600. That’s around 333 transactions per month.

Over a year, choosing Ozow over PayFast would save about R48,800 (R4,066 a month) — if all your customers are happy paying via instant EFT (which they’re often not).

The trick is offering multiple options. We typically set up PayFast for cards (because conversion is highest) and Ozow as a secondary option for customers who prefer EFT. Best of both worlds.

Our actual recommendation

For 90% of South African stores building today, the answer is:

• Under R100k/month: Just PayFast. Keep it simple. Optimise other things first.
• R100k-R500k/month: PayFast (cards) + Ozow (instant EFT) side by side. Best conversion + lower fees on the EFT side.
• R500k+/month: Peach Payments primary (negotiate the rate), Ozow secondary. The savings on card fees alone justify the migration.
• International sales: Peach Payments for SA + Stripe for international.

What about Shopify Payments?

Shopify Payments isn’t yet available in South Africa as of mid-2026. When it launches locally, it’ll likely become the default for most SA Shopify stores. Until then, the four above are your options.

Things people get wrong

• Picking the cheapest gateway and losing conversion. A 1% saving on fees is worthless if it costs you 15% in checkout abandonment.
• Only offering one option. Some customers want to pay by card, others by EFT. Don’t make them choose between you and a competitor.
• Not negotiating rates at volume. Once you’re above R250k/month, every major gateway will negotiate. Ask.
• Forgetting about chargebacks. Card transactions can be reversed. EFT (Ozow) generally can’t. For fraud-prone product categories, EFT is safer.