PayGate

What PayGate does

PayGate, operating commercially as Payfast by Network, is a South Africa-based payment gateway and aggregation provider founded in 1999 and headquartered in Cape Town. The company operates two complementary products: a payment gateway (PayGate) for enterprise merchants requiring direct acquirer relationships with real-time gross settlement, and a payment aggregator (Payfast) for SMBs with net 48-hour settlement. Its technology stack includes the Payhost Enterprise API for custom integrations, the Payweb hosted payment page, and over 70 pre-built platform plugins spanning ecommerce, booking, and shopping-cart systems. The platform supports 18+ payment methods including major card networks, mobile wallets, QR codes, and localized South African methods, with features for tokenization, recurring billing, split payments, multi-currency pricing, and immediate payout.

PayGate is a subsidiary of Network International, a Middle East and Africa payments company, and is PCI DSS Level 1 certified — the highest payment-industry security standard. The company monetizes primarily through transaction processing fees on payment volume, supplemented by subscription billing for merchants using recurring-payment features. It serves both enterprise clients with complex bespoke integrations (tourism, gaming, large retail, logistics) and SMBs via self-serve aggregation, with named enterprise customers including Takealot, DHL, Dischem, and Yuppiechef. Beyond core processing, PayGate has expanded into adjacent products such as a Point-of-Sale device, Event Ticketing, Invoicing, Donations, and Business Funding (Easy Advance, Lula), broadening its surface area from pure payments into embedded commerce finance for the South African merchant ecosystem.

Name

PayGate

Legal name

Payfast

Website

https://paygate.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PayGate (Payfast by Network) is a Cape Town-based payment gateway and aggregation provider serving South African merchants, with PCI DSS Level 1 certification, 70+ platform integrations, and enterprise clients including Takealot, DHL, and Dischem.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Gateway Services

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232)

akta.pro primary industry

Merchant Payment Gateways (API/Hosted Checkout) (FSAMACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Payment Gateways & API Connectivity (FSAGABAB), Integrated Payment Processors (PSP/Acquirer) (FSAMABAA), Recurring Billing, Subscriptions & Tokenized Payments (CRAFALAH), Tokenization, Network Vaults & Credential Management (FSAGABAF), Bill Pay, Invoicing & Payables Platforms (BPAMAFAF)

Keywords

• Payment gateway services
• Online payment processing
• Merchant payment solutions
• PCI compliant payments
• Payment API integration

Headquarters

HQ city

Cape Town

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Transaction Processing Fees: Merchants pay fees for processing card and electronic fund transfers through the gateway. Settlement is real-time gross for gateway merchants and net settlement every 48 hours for aggregation merchants.
2. Subscription Services: Scheduled payments at regular intervals for merchants using subscription billing features

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

PayGate (branded as Payfast by Network) is a secure, scalable, and PCI DSS Level 1 certified online payment gateway that processes card and electronic fund transfer payments for South African merchants. It offers the Payweb hosted payment page, the Payhost enterprise API with non-redirect PCI-compliant integration, and supports 18+ payment methods, tokenization, split payments, immediate payouts, multi-currency pricing, and 70+ pre-built ecommerce, shopping cart, and booking system integrations.

Product overview

Payfast by Network is a comprehensive payment platform offering both a Payment Aggregator (Payfast) and Payment Gateway (Paygate) solution. The Paygate enterprise gateway provides fully supported payment infrastructure with multi-user access control, real-time reporting, and acquirer agnostic connectivity across all major South African institutions. Key products include Payweb (hosted payment page), Payhost (enterprise API), and various add-on modules including Point-of-Sale, Ecommerce, Event Ticketing, Invoicing, and Donations solutions. Additional features support recurring payments (Subscriptions, Tokenization), business funding (Easy Advance, Lula Business Funding), multi-currency transactions, immediate payouts, split payments, and batch processing through the Payfast by Network App.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Payweb: Hosted payment page solution for merchants
• Payhost

Products and services

• Paygate Payment Gateway

Quantifiable outcome

• Real-time gross settlement for gateway merchants
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability1 record

Feature9 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Network InternationalcoreOthersParent company and strategic partner. Network International is a leading payments company in the Middle East and Africa. Payfast operates as part of the Network group, with branding 'Payfast by Network'. The company logo appears in the footer linking to network.ae domain.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• PayPal: Global digital payments incumbent offering gateway, wallet and checkout services. Overlaps with PayGate in serving cross-border ecommerce merchants in South Africa.
• Adyen: Global enterprise payment platform offering unified online, mobile and in-store processing. Increasingly targets the same large enterprise merchants in South Africa that PayGate serves.
• Visa: Global payments network whose rails, acceptance solutions and gateway partnerships shape the competitive context for PayGate's acquirer-agnostic gateway product.

Others

• Network International: Parent company of PayGate and a leading MEA payments group. Not a competitor but the strategic owner whose broader portfolio shapes PayGate's market positioning and access to regional distribution.

Emerging players

• Flutterwave: Africa-focused payment infrastructure provider enabling cross-border payments and gateway services. Emerging competitor to PayGate as African ecommerce and platform businesses expand.

Direct peers

• Stripe: Global payment gateway and processing platform serving online businesses with APIs and hosted checkout. Directly competes with PayGate's enterprise gateway and aggregation products, especially as Stripe expands into the South African market.
• Peach Payments: South African payment gateway and processor offering online card payments, subscriptions and alternative payment methods. Most direct domestic competitor to PayGate for enterprise and SMB merchants in South Africa.
• Yoco: South African fintech offering payment acceptance solutions spanning POS and online gateway. Competes with PayGate in aggregation and SMB segments across the South African merchant base.
• PayU: Global digital payments provider with a strong South African gateway business serving enterprise and SMB merchants. Directly competes with PayGate on enterprise gateway and aggregation in South Africa.
• Ozow: South African instant EFT payment provider enabling merchants to accept online bank transfers. Competes for online checkout share in the SA market alongside PayGate's gateway.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DPOPayGate
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/payfast
• Facebookfacebook.com/payfastbynetwork
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/payfastbynetwork
• Instagraminstagram.com/payfastbynetwork

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PayGate