Payment Gateways

PayFast vs Yoco South Africa: Online and In-Store Payments

Alister

E-commerce Consultant

| 6 Aug 2026 11 min

Quick answer

The PayFast vs Yoco decision is really a question about where your customers pay. PayFast is a pure online gateway — superb for web checkouts, with the widest range of South African payment methods but no card machines. Yoco started in card machines and grew into online payments — its online plans charge a lower card rate (2.95%, or as low as 2.55% on higher plans) but it does not offer Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper or Mobicred.

Quick answer: For online-only stores, Yoco is cheaper on cards (2.95%, no per-transaction fee vs PayFast's 3.2% + R2) but PayFast converts more South African customers because it supports Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper, Mobicred and Capitec Pay. For in-store sales, Yoco wins outright with its range of card machines bought outright. For an omni-channel business, the smartest setup is usually PayFast (or Yoco online) for the web checkout plus a Yoco card machine for the counter.

Not sure which fits? Chat to the CrazyClicks team — we've set up online and omni-channel payments for clients across Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.

Why this matters for South African businesses

South African retailers rarely sell in just one channel any more. A coffee shop has a counter. A clothing brand has a website and pops up at markets. A gym sells memberships online and merch in the studio. That is why "online gateway or card machine" is the wrong question — the right question is whether your payment stack covers every place your customers want to pay.

Fees matter too. A store doing R200,000 a month pays somewhere between R5,000 and R12,000 a month just to process payments, depending on the gateway and platform. Choosing between a 3.2% + R2 model and a 2.95% flat model is a real, recurring cost decision — not a rounding error.

And because Shopify Payments is not available in South Africa, every local store that runs on Shopify also carries Shopify's third-party provider fee, which makes the gateway choice even more consequential.

Key fact: According to Shopify (2026), over 22,000 South African stores trade on the platform. Every one of them pays a third-party gateway fee plus Shopify's provider fee — typically ~5.2%–5.5% on PayFast card transactions on the Basic plan.

What is PayFast?

PayFast, now Payfast by Network, is South Africa's most established online payment gateway (founded 2007). It is a pure online player: you cannot buy a card machine from PayFast. What it gives you instead is the deepest local payment method coverage in the country.

Online card rate: 3.2% + R2 per transaction (cut from 3.5% on 1 June 2026 after Network International acquired the business)
Instant EFT: 2%, minimum R2
Monthly fee: none
Methods: Visa, Mastercard, Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper, Mobicred, Capitec Pay

PayFast is the default recommendation for South African web stores — and for good reason. It is reliable, has a native Shopify app, charges no monthly fee, and covers the ways South Africans actually pay online.

What is Yoco?

Yoco is South Africa's best-known fintech for card machines. It launched with tap-to-pay hardware for small businesses and later built an online payment platform, so it now offers both in-store and online payments.

Online card rate: 2.95% local, 3.40% international
Per-transaction fee: none (online)
Online plans: Plus R249/month, Pro R499/month, with rates dropping to as low as 2.55%
In-store: card machines bought outright, with simple per-swipe pricing
Monthly fee: none on standard online card payments; optional paid plans for lower rates

Yoco's edge is omnipresence: one account, one dashboard, and you can take money on the website, in the shop, at a market stall or at a pop-up. Its weakness is breadth — no Instant EFT, no SnapScan or Zapper integration in the standard online checkout, and no Mobicred.

Fees compared

Here is the honest fee picture for mid-2026, from Yoco's and PayFast's published South African pricing (rates exclude VAT):

Fee component	PayFast	Yoco (online)
Local card rate	3.2%	2.95%
International card rate	3.2% (standard)	3.40%
Per-transaction fee	R2	None
Pay-by-Bank / Instant EFT	2% (min R2)	Not offered
Monthly fee	None	None on standard; Plus R249/mo, Pro R499/mo
Best rate on paid plans	—	As low as 2.55% (Pro)

On pure card transactions, Yoco is cheaper: 2.95% with no per-transaction fee beats PayFast's 3.2% + R2 on almost every order size. On anything that is not a card — bank transfer, scan-to-pay, buy-now-pay-later — PayFast is the only one of the two that covers it.

The Shopify catch

Because Shopify Payments does not operate in South Africa, Shopify charges a third-party payment provider fee: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced (July 2026, shopify.com/za/pricing). It stacks on top of your gateway fee:

Scenario (Basic plan)	Gateway fee	+ Shopify 2%	True all-in
PayFast card	3.2% + R2	2%	~5.2% + R2
Yoco online card	2.95%	2%	~4.95%

Yoco's true all-in on Shopify Basic is about 0.25 percentage points lower on cards — worth tracking at volume, but secondary to which methods your customers expect at checkout.

Payment methods compared

Payment method	PayFast	Yoco (online)
Visa / Mastercard (online)	✅	✅
Instant EFT (Pay-by-Bank)	✅ 2%	❌
Capitec Pay	✅	✅ (via Pay-by-Bank partners)
SnapScan	✅	❌
Zapper	✅	❌
Mobicred (BNPL)	✅	❌
In-store card machine	❌	✅

This is the real divide. Yoco is card-first: brilliant if your customers tap, insert or pay online with a card, and nothing else. PayFast is method-first: it accepts the full spread of ways South Africans pay, from bank transfers to scan apps to credit-based BNPL.

For a broad consumer audience — especially Instagram-driven SME shoppers — the wider PayFast menu typically converts better. For a card-dominant audience (tourists, high-end retail, quick-service), Yoco's lower rate and simpler checkout win.

In-store: card machines compared

This is Yoco's home turf and PayFast simply does not play here.

Yoco sells a range of card machines (tap-and-go devices, portable/rugged options and a mini "Pocket" device for couriers and market stalls). You buy the device outright — there is no rental contract — and pay a straightforward per-transaction percentage on every tap, swipe and insert. Devices pair with the Yoco app, which tracks sales, offers analytics and syncs with your online dashboard.
PayFast offers no hardware at all. If you need in-store card acceptance, you must pair PayFast with a separate card machine provider (Yoco, iKhokha, Peach Payments or a bank POS terminal).

For an omni-channel business, the standard recommendation is: PayFast for the website, Yoco for the counter. Both are affordable, no-contract and South African, so the combination keeps your payment stack simple and cheap.

Online plans and Shopify integration

Yoco online plans

Yoco's standard online card rate is 2.95%. Its paid online plans sweeten the deal for growing stores:

Yoco Plus (R249/month): lower card rates and extra features such as analytics and team tools.
Yoco Pro (R499/month): the deepest rate cuts — as low as 2.55% — plus advanced reporting, inventory and multi-user access.

The paid plans pay for themselves once your card volume is high enough that the rate cut beats the monthly fee. On a Shopify Basic store the maths is roughly: at ~R200,000/month of card sales, Pro's ~0.4% saving (≈R800/month) comfortably covers the R499 fee.

Shopify integration

PayFast: native one-click Shopify app, widely used, reliable, surfaces all its local methods at checkout.
Yoco: offers an online payment integration for Shopify. Setup involves linking your Yoco online account, and remember the Shopify third-party provider fee still applies to Yoco transactions.

WordPress / WooCommerce

Both provide WooCommerce plugins. PayFast's is mature and simple; Yoco's online plugin is newer but works fine for standard card checkouts.

Settlement speed

PayFast: settles within 1–2 business days, with settlement-on-request available for faster access to your balance.
Yoco (online): settles into your bank account within 1–2 business days of funds being confirmed.
Yoco (in-store): card machine sales settle on a schedule that typically sees funds in your account within 1–2 business days (deposits are batched and paid out on bank days).

Neither offers real-time payouts like Peach Payments' ~90-second option from early 2026, so plan cash flow with a one-to-two-day buffer.

Account approval and support

PayFast: fast approval for standard South African businesses — usually a few working days with your ID, bank details and business docs. Local, well-regarded support.
Yoco: account setup is quick, and because Yoco also sells hardware its onboarding is very SME-friendly. Support is available via app chat, phone and email, and Yoco has physical presence across the country for device issues.

Both are POPIA-conscious and card-scheme compliant. Neither should block a legitimate business for more than a few days.

Pros and cons

PayFast

Pros:

Widest local method coverage (Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper, Mobicred, Capitec Pay)
Native Shopify app and mature WooCommerce plugin
No monthly fee
Settlement-on-request for faster access to cash
Card rate dropped to 3.2% in June 2026

Cons:

Higher card rate (3.2% + R2)
No in-store card machines
No Apple Pay
Older, less flexible API for custom builds

Yoco

Pros:

Lower online card rate (2.95%, as low as 2.55% on Pro)
No per-transaction fee online
Excellent in-store card machines bought outright
One dashboard for online and in-store sales
Very SME-friendly onboarding and support

Cons:

No Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper or Mobicred online
International cards cost 3.40%
Paid plans carry a monthly fee (R249/R499)
Online feature set is younger than PayFast's

Decision tree: online-only or omni-channel?

Do you sell only online?
Card-dominant customers (fashion-forward, tourist, high-ticket) → Yoco online at 2.95% (or Pro at 2.55%).
Mixed methods (EFT, scan-to-pay, BNPL) → PayFast for coverage.
Undecided → PayFast; you can add Yoco online later.
Do you sell only in-store?
Yoco card machine, bought outright. PayFast is irrelevant here.
Do you sell both online and in-store?
Start with PayFast online + Yoco card machine — the classic SA omni-channel stack.
If your online buyers are card-only, swap PayFast for Yoco online and keep one vendor for everything.
Do you sell internationally?
Neither is outstanding; Paystack (3.1% international cards, Apple Pay) is worth a look, covered in our Paystack vs Yoco guide.

The short version: card-only and in-store → Yoco. Broad local methods and web-first → PayFast. Omni-channel → PayFast online + Yoco machine.

If you're still choosing a storefront, Shopify's current introductory offer is the lowest-risk way to test e-commerce — and both PayFast and Yoco plug into it cleanly.

Worked examples in Rands

Assume an average order value of R200 and all-card online payments to isolate the fee difference.

Scenario 1: R50,000/month online, ~250 orders

Cost line	PayFast	Yoco (standard)
Rate (3.2% vs 2.95%)	R1,600	R1,475
Per-transaction fee (R2 × 250)	R500	R0
Gateway total	R2,100	R1,475
Shopify Basic third-party fee (2%)	R1,000	R1,000
True all-in cost	R3,100	R2,475

Yoco saves R625/month (~R7,500/year) at R50,000/month on an all-card Shopify Basic store.

Scenario 2: R200,000/month online, ~1,000 orders

Cost line	PayFast	Yoco (standard)	Yoco Pro (R499/mo)
Rate	R6,400	R5,900	R5,100 (2.55%)
Per-transaction fee	R2,000	R0	R0
Plan fee	R0	R0	R499
Gateway total	R8,400	R5,900	R5,599
Shopify Basic third-party fee (2%)	R4,000	R4,000	R4,000
True all-in cost	R12,400	R9,900	R9,599

At R200,000/month, Yoco standard saves R2,500/month vs PayFast, and Yoco Pro saves R2,801/month — because the 0.4% rate cut on Pro is worth ~R800/month against the R499 plan fee.

Scenario 3: The realistic mix (60% card, 40% Instant EFT, R200,000/month)

Cost line	PayFast	Yoco
Card portion (R120,000)	R3,840 + R1,200 = R5,040	R3,540
EFT portion (R80,000 at 2%)	R1,600	Not possible (no EFT)
Gateway total	R6,640	R3,540 + lost EFT sales
Shopify Basic third-party fee (2%)	R4,000	R4,000
True all-in cost	R10,640	R7,540

Yoco is still cheaper — but only if 40% of your customers are willing to pay by card. If 40% of your buyers default to EFT, a Yoco-only store simply loses those sales or forces them to pay a way they do not want. That is why method coverage is a conversion issue, not just a fee issue.

Key fact: Instant EFT is 2% on PayFast — meaningfully cheaper than the 3.2% card rate. Stores that encourage bank payment for high-value orders (e.g., a 2% discount) lower their blended rate well below what a card-only gateway would cost.

Step-by-step: getting set up

Whether you go PayFast, Yoco, or both, here is the proven setup path.

Map where you sell. List every place customers pay: website, shop counter, market stall, WhatsApp orders.
Open the right account. PayFast for web payments; a Yoco account (with online plan if needed) for cards and machines.
Verify your business. Submit ID or company registration, confirm your payout bank account. Most approvals land in a few working days.
Connect your store. On Shopify, install PayFast's official app or connect Yoco's online payment integration; on WooCommerce, activate the matching plugin and paste your keys.
Set up your card machine. Charge the Yoco device, pair it in the app, and run a test sale before your doors open.
Test both channels. Place a test online order and a test in-store swipe, confirming settlements land in the right account.
Reconcile monthly. Review online and in-store fees, then upgrade to Yoco Plus/Pro if your card volume justifies the plan fee.

Building the store behind it? CrazyClicks handles Shopify development, WooCommerce development and full digital marketing for South African retailers.

Beginner mistakes to avoid

Picking PayFast "because it's cheaper" without checking card-vs-EFT mix. PayFast is often more expensive per card sale — it wins on methods, not price.
Buying Yoco online only, then discovering customers want EFT. Card-only checkouts quietly lose EFT-heavy buyers.
Forgetting the Shopify third-party fee. Both gateways carry it (2% on Basic). Compare true all-in, not gateway rates alone.
Ignoring international card pricing. Yoco charges 3.40% on international cards; if you sell abroad, that changes the maths.
Not testing the card machine before launch. An unpaired or uncharged device on day one is a queue of lost sales.
Skipping settlement planning. A 1–2 day payout gap can choke cash flow if you spend against the same-day expectation.
Running online and in-store on different, unconnected systems. Reconcile both channels in one view (Yoco's dashboard does this well) or you'll lose money in mismatches.
Ignoring POPIA and VAT. Your checkout collects personal data (POPIA) and your fees may qualify for input VAT claims if you're VAT-registered.

Expert tips

Encourage bank payment on high-value orders. PayFast's Instant EFT at 2% beats the 3.2% card rate — offer a small discount to shift big-ticket buyers.
Run the Yoco Pro maths before upgrading. Upgrade when 0.4% × card volume exceeds R499/month — roughly R125k/month of card sales.
Use Mobicred for high-ticket fashion and electronics. PayFast's BNPL integration lifts conversion among credit buyers.
Keep a card machine at markets and pop-ups. South African market shoppers expect tap-to-pay; a portable Yoco device captures those impulse sales.
Track abandoned checkouts by payment method. If EFT users abandon, you need PayFast's methods. If everyone pays card, Yoco's rate wins.
Never run a single online gateway. Keep PayFast or Yoco as primary plus a second gateway or manual invoice fallback for outages.
Reconcile daily, review monthly. Spot fee drift and failed settlements before they compound.
Pair payments with checkout conversion. A fast, mobile-friendly checkout matters more than a 0.25% rate. CrazyClicks offers conversion optimisation audits for exactly this.

The quick-start checklist

Mapped every place you accept payment (online, counter, market, WhatsApp)
Decided between online-only (Yoco or PayFast) and omni-channel (PayFast + Yoco machine)
Compared true all-in costs including Shopify's 2% Basic fee
Confirmed your customers' payment method mix (card vs EFT vs scan-to-pay)
Checked international card pricing if you export
Verified POPIA compliance and privacy policy
Opened and verified your gateway account(s)
Connected the online gateway to Shopify or WooCommerce
Charged, paired and tested the card machine with a live sale
Booked a monthly fee and settlement review

South African case study

Illustrative example for educational purposes — names and figures are fictional but realistic.

The business: "Lekker Biltong Co.", a Pretoria-based meat snack brand. It runs an online store (~R90,000/month), a physical shop (R60,000/month at the counter), and does weekend markets around Joburg (R15,000/month in tap sales).

The setup: The team started on PayFast for the website and rented a bank POS terminal for the shop. Between terminal rental, market days and card-heavy counter sales, in-store costs were eating margins.

The change: They switched the counter and market sales to a Yoco card machine bought outright — no rental, simple per-tap pricing — and kept PayFast for the website's online checkouts (their online buyers split roughly 55% card / 30% EFT / 15% SnapScan).

The numbers: Online, PayFast costs them ~R3,000/month on ~R90,000 of web sales. In-store, Yoco's per-transaction pricing on ~R75,000 of counter + market sales replaced a rental contract and cut card processing costs by roughly R600/month. Total payment stack: ~R3,600/month, versus ~R4,400 before.

The lesson: Neither vendor won alone. PayFast covered the online methods their web shoppers wanted; Yoco covered the counter and the markets. The omni-channel combination was cheaper and more flexible than a single-provider approach.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is Yoco's online card fee?

A: Yoco charges 2.95% for local online card payments with no per-transaction fee. International cards cost 3.40%. Paid plans (Plus R249/mo, Pro R499/mo) reduce rates to as low as 2.55%.

Q: What is PayFast's card fee?

A: PayFast charges 3.2% + R2 per card transaction (reduced from 3.5% on 1 June 2026). Instant EFT is 2% with a minimum of R2.

Q: Does Yoco have a monthly fee?

A: Standard online card payments have no monthly fee. The optional Plus and Pro plans cost R249 and R499 per month respectively and include lower rates and extra features.

Q: Does PayFast have a monthly fee?

A: No. PayFast charges no monthly fee, only per-transaction fees.

Q: Which gateway settles faster, PayFast or Yoco?

A: Both settle within 1–2 business days. PayFast offers settlement-on-request; Yoco batches and pays out on bank days.

Q: Can I take tap-to-pay with PayFast?

A: No — PayFast has no hardware. Use a Yoco card machine (or similar) for in-store tap-to-pay and keep PayFast for the website.

Q: Is Yoco good for a market stall or pop-up?

A: Yes. Yoco's portable devices are designed for markets and mobile sellers, with simple pairing and per-transaction pricing and no long-term contracts.

Q: Does Yoco support Apple Pay online?

A: Yoco's online checkout supports card payments; Apple Pay is not a headline Yoco online feature the way it is with Paystack. Card-scheme wallet support varies, so confirm with Yoco for your plan.

Q: Which is cheaper on Shopify?

A: On Shopify Basic, Yoco's true all-in card cost is ~4.95% versus PayFast's ~5.2% + R2. The difference is real but usually smaller than the conversion impact of PayFast's extra methods.

Q: Should a dropshipping store choose PayFast or Yoco?

A: PayFast, for its method coverage and no monthly fee. See our dropshipping in South Africa guide for how payments fit into the full model.

Q: Can I refund customers easily on both?

A: Yes, both support refunds, but neither refunds its processing fee on refunded transactions.

Q: Is Yoco or PayFast better for a restaurant?

A: For a restaurant, Yoco's card machines win at the counter, and Yoco (or PayFast) can power online ordering. It depends on whether your online orders are card-heavy.

Summary

PayFast and Yoco are not really competitors in the way most comparisons suggest — they answer different questions. PayFast is South Africa's deepest online method gateway: Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper, Mobicred and Capitec Pay at 3.2% + R2, with no monthly fee and a native Shopify app. Yoco is the card-first challenger: 2.95% online (as low as 2.55% on Pro), no per-transaction fee, and the country's favourite range of card machines. For online-only stores the choice comes down to method coverage versus card price; for omni-channel businesses the answer is usually PayFast online plus a Yoco machine at the counter.

Key Takeaways

Yoco is cheaper on online cards (2.95%, no per-txn fee) than PayFast (3.2% + R2).
PayFast covers Instant EFT, SnapScan, Zapper, Mobicred and Capitec Pay; Yoco online is card-only.
Yoco is the clear winner in-store — card machines bought outright, no rental contracts.
The best omni-channel stack for most SA businesses is PayFast online + Yoco card machine.
Always add Shopify's third-party provider fee (2% on Basic) to compare true all-in costs.

Ready to Build Your Online Store?

Whichever way you split online and in-store payments, you need a storefront that converts. South African merchants love Shopify's current introductory offer for getting started cheaply, and both PayFast and Yoco plug straight in. Prefer to hand it to specialists? CrazyClicks is a full-service digital agency in Cape Town — see our services, read our case studies, or start a project today.

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