PAYFAST SOUTH AFRICAN ALTERNATIVE TO PAYPAL

At the beginning of September South Africa has announced a launch of a beta version of its online processor that enabled people to make payment through Internet banking (EFT). The company owners have announced at the moment PayFast is used by a number of South African online merchants and new and new ones are joining. So, since being taken out of beta hundred sellers on bidorbuy.co.za, a popular online marketplace chose PayFast as a payment option.

Andy Higgins, founder of the processor, meant the system as an alternative to credit cards that are very popular in Africa. The system itself is called as an African PayPal.

"Using PayFast's EFT solution is safer than using a credit card as there is no risk of charge backs. PayFast's Instant EFT still gives the benefit of immediate fulfilment of purchases for the buyer and, like credit cards, there is no manual bank reconciliation required for the online merchant,? said Jonathan Smit, Managing Director of PayFast.

"The uptake of PayFast has been encouraging so far, with very positive feedback. Many smaller merchants have however also requested a credit card service to complement the EFT solution, which we are currently working on and plan to launch during the course of Q4 2008," he added.