CallPay

What CallPay does

CallPay is a South African cloud-based payment solutions provider operating under Ahead Start (Pty) Ltd, incorporated in 2017 and headquartered in Cape Town. The platform serves South African online merchants, call centres, and small/medium businesses through a unified API that delivers direct connectivity to all major South African banks (Standard Bank, ABSA, Nedbank, Capitec, FNB, Investec), card processing via partner acquirers and gateways (Peach Payments, Bidvest, PayGate, PayU, Iveri, Ecentric, Wirecard), and a broad suite of alternative payment methods (Zapper, SnapScan, Masterpass, vouchers, digital wallets, Mpesa, PayFlex BNPL, Instant Money, eWallet). Core proprietary products include EFTsecure (real-time EFT), Express Pay by Link, Callpay Agent Request (NI-USSD-based call-centre payments on the customer's mobile device, covered by a registered patent), Direct Card Payments, and Callpay Agent Assist, supplemented by BNPL, QR Code Payments, Notify Express messaging, payouts, transaction monitoring, and invoice automation.

Underlying the product suite is a cloud-native architecture requiring no merchant hardware, with built-in fail-over mechanisms, PCI-DSS Level 1 (v3 and v3.2) compliance, HSM/SSL/TLS-secrypted credential handling, and multi-tokenization capabilities. The company monetizes via a transaction-based pricing model combining fixed per-transaction fees, variable percentage fees on transaction value, fixed payout fees, one-time setup fees, and refund service fees, billed monthly with pro-rata adjustment for mid-month onboarding. Distribution is hybrid: direct self-serve onboarding through callpay.com alongside sales-assisted enterprise acquisition, plus embedded distribution through pre-integrations with the leading South African acquirers and gateways. At the time of reporting, CallPay processes 1,615,452+ monthly transactions and R849,227,023+ in monthly processing volume across 11,298+ integrated merchants.

Name

CallPay

Legal name

Ahead Start (Pty) Ltd

Website

https://callpay.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CallPay is a South African cloud-based payment solutions provider serving online merchants, call centres, and SMBs with unified API access to all major South African banks, card processors, and alternative payment methods across 11,298+ integrated merchants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Embedded Payments (Pay-ins, Pay-outs, Wallets) (FSAGALAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) & Local Rails (ACH/SEPA/UPI, etc.) (CRAFALAG), Bill Pay, Invoicing & Payables Platforms (BPAMAFAF)

Keywords

• Online payment processing
• Instant EFT payments
• Payment gateway services
• Merchant payment solutions
• Alternative payment methods

Headquarters

HQ city

Cape Town

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Transaction Processing Fees: Fixed fee on each EFT payment successfully processed plus variable fee expressed as percentage of transaction value. Merchants are liable for fees regardless of whether payment is refunded.
2. Card Payment Processing: Fees on each card payment successfully processed, including fixed and variable components based on transaction value
3. Payout Fees: Fixed fee per payout of funds to merchant's bank account
4. Setup Fees: One-time setup fee applicable when initially onboarding merchants for certain services
5. Refund Service Fees: Service fee levied when merchants use Callpay's withdrawal, refund services or refund button to process refunds

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

CallPay is a cloud-based payment solutions platform that enables South African merchants to accept digital payments through a single unified API. The platform supports instant EFT payments via all major South African banks, embedded card processing, QR code payments, Buy Now Pay Later, and a suite of alternative payment methods (vouchers, digital wallets, mobile money). It also provides proprietary call-centre payment products (Agent Request via NI-USSD technology and Agent Assist) and operates as a PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant payment service provider.

Product overview

CallPay operates as a cloud-based payment solutions platform offering multiple integrated payment products and services for South African merchants. The core product portfolio includes EFTsecure (instant EFT payments via major South African banks), Express Pay by Link (payment links via SMS/email), Agent Request (call centre NI-USSD payment solution), Direct Card Payments (seamless card widget), and Agent Assist (real-time call centre payment processing). The platform also offers add-on services including Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), QR Code Payments, Notify Express messaging, Alternative Payment Methods (APMs) such as Zapper, SnapScan, Capitec Pay, and PayFlex, as well as Payouts, Transaction Monitoring, and Invoice automation. Merchants integrate once via a unified API to access the full suite of payment services, with CallPay acting as the payment solution provider while leveraging partner processors like Peach Payments and Wirecard for card transaction processing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EFTsecure: Online payment solution with direct connectivity to all South African banks, powered by Callpay.
• Express Pay by Link
• Callpay Agent Request
• Direct Card Payments
• Callpay Agent Assist

Quantifiable outcome

• 849,227,023.29+ monthly processing volume
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration21 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Peach PaymentscoreTechnology or IntegrationPeach Payments acts as payment processor for card transactions between merchants and payers. Callpay integrates with Peach Payments for card payment processing services.
• WirecardcoreTechnology or IntegrationWirecard acts as payment processor for card transactions between merchants and payers. Callpay integrates with Wirecard for payment processing.
• Standard BankcoreTechnology or IntegrationMajor South African bank supported by EFTsecure for real-time electronic funds transfers. Part of the core bank connectivity network.
• ABSA BankcoreTechnology or IntegrationMajor South African bank supported by EFTsecure for real-time electronic funds transfers. Part of the core bank connectivity network.
• NedbankcoreTechnology or IntegrationMajor South African bank supported by EFTsecure for real-time electronic funds transfers. Part of the core bank connectivity network.
• Capitec BankcoreTechnology or IntegrationMajor South African bank supported by EFTsecure for real-time electronic funds transfers. Part of the core bank connectivity network.
• First National Bank (FNB)coreTechnology or IntegrationMajor South African bank supported by EFTsecure for real-time electronic funds transfers. Part of the core bank connectivity network.
• InvesteccoreTechnology or IntegrationSouth African bank supported by EFTsecure for real-time electronic funds transfers. Part of the core bank connectivity network.
• BidvestcoreTechnology or IntegrationBidvest payment gateway integration for card processing. Pre-integrated with Callpay platform allowing merchants to access Bidvest card payment services.
• PayGatecoreTechnology or IntegrationSouth African payment gateway integrated with Callpay platform for card processing services.
• PayUcoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment gateway integrated with Callpay platform for card processing services.
• IvericoreTechnology or IntegrationSouth African payment gateway integrated with Callpay platform for card processing services.
• EcentriccoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment gateway integrated with Callpay platform for card processing services.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• PayFast: Leading South African payment gateway and PSP offering card, EFT, and instant EFT processing for online merchants. Directly comparable to Callpay in target customers (SA online merchants), payment methods, and sales-led GTM.
• Peach Payments: South African payment gateway and PSP providing card and alternative payment processing to online merchants. Direct competitor to Callpay in the SA PSP market and also a Callpay technology partner.
• PayGate: Established South African payment gateway offering card processing and alternative payment methods to merchants. Directly comparable as both a SA PSP partner of Callpay and a competing gateway in the same verticals.
• Ozow: South African instant EFT payment provider enabling direct bank-to-merchant payments across all major SA banks. Direct competitor to Callpay's EFTsecure product in the instant EFT vertical.
• PayU: Global digital payments provider with significant South African operations offering card and alternative payment processing. Competes with Callpay for SA merchant volume and is also a Callpay gateway partner.
• Yoco: South African fintech providing payment acceptance (POS and online), capital, and business tools to SMBs. Directly comparable as a SA-focused payments platform, with broader SMB financial services beyond pure payment processing.
• PayJustNow: South African Buy Now Pay Later provider offering interest-free instalments at online checkout. Comparable to Callpay's PayFlex-powered BNPL add-on and competes for the same underbanked SA consumer credit demand.
• Zapper: South African QR code-based mobile payment application competing in the in-person and online QR payment space. Competes with Callpay's QR Code Payments module and is also integrated as an APM within Callpay.
• Mobicred: South African online credit/BNPL provider allowing consumers to pay on credit at checkout. Directly comparable alternative payment method serving the same SA merchants and consumer underbanked segment Callpay targets.

Broad incumbents

• Network International: Pan-African and Middle East payment processor and acquirer offering merchant acquiring, processing, and value-added services. Larger incumbent with overlapping SA merchant acquiring services and pan-African reach Callpay lacks.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Callpay
• Facebookfacebook.com/callpaypsp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/callpay
• Instagraminstagram.com/callpay_sa

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 CallPay