Payfast Reviews 46

The support team is completely ineffective. You wait for days and still get no real solution.

2.
Support team seems uninterested in actually helping. Responses feel lazy and unhelpful.

3.
Very poor support team experience. Delayed replies and no understanding of the issue.

4.
The support team does not seem trained to handle real problems. Extremely frustrating.

5.
Support team wastes your time instead of resolving anything. Completely unreliable.

6.
Unresponsive and unhelpful support team. Makes the whole platform difficult to deal with.

7.
The support team gives generic answers that don’t solve anything. Very disappointing.

8.
Dealing with the support team feels pointless. No clarity, no proper assistance.

9.
Support team performance is extremely poor. Slow, unclear, and ineffective.

10.
The biggest issue is the support team. Without proper help, the service becomes unusable.

Cannot get hold of them, and cannot reach the Vendor that provided the goods I ordered, and for whom Payfast.io took payment. I would caution anyone from doing business with them

KPS Safaris & Tours has had a frustrating experience with PayFast regarding payout timing and support follow-up.

Two client payments were received via online payment links on 2026/03/25 and both were confirmed as received.

However:

only one payout was processed
the second amount remained marked as “available for payout” without being transferred
multiple support tickets were logged across departments
one unresolved ticket was incorrectly marked as resolved

The issue was passed between POS Support and Merchant Services, which caused further delays and uncertainty around business cash flow.

For a payment provider handling merchant funds, predictable payout timelines and clear written communication are essential.

At the time of writing, we are still awaiting the remaining payout and full written confirmation of the payout timeline.

I am extremely dissatisfied with my experience with Payfast and feel compelled to raise this formally.

I have attempted to onboard with Payfast on two separate occasions, and both experiences have been problematic. The most concerning issue is that Payfast is holding funds that have already been paid by my clients, with payout delays of up to 14 days and no clear communication or explanation.

For any business, especially in hospitality, this is completely unacceptable. Cash flow is critical, and there is no justification for withholding client funds without transparency or proper support.

In addition to this, the customer service experience has been incredibly poor. I have been on hold for extended periods (over 25 minutes) trying to speak to a manager, with no resolution. When eventually reaching support staff, the interaction was dismissive and unprofessional, particularly when expressing understandable frustration about delayed payouts.

At this point, I have:
• Funds being held without clarity on payout timing
• No proactive communication from Payfast
• Significant time wasted trying to get assistance
• A complete lack of accountability from support

I am requesting the following as a matter of urgency:
1. Immediate confirmation of when my funds will be paid out
2. A clear explanation for the delay
3. Escalation to a senior manager who can resolve this

Based on this experience, I would strongly caution other businesses against using Payfast if timely payouts and reliable support are important.

Payfast are useless, i made one transaction through them and tried to request a payment, they declined it for some reason they will not tell me. I am trying to close down the account and request my funds to be sent out. They still will not do that, they are still currently holding my funds and wont release them. Do Not go with payfast.

Signing up with PayFast is one of the worst decisions I’ve made. If I had known what I was getting into, I would never have registered. If you struggle to verify an account, it seriously raises concerns about how your other services are handled.

My experience with Payfast has been extremely disappointing and frustrating. The level of professionalism and communication I encountered was far below what I expected from a financial services platform.

Throughout the process, I fully cooperated with every request made by their fraud department. They asked for documentation from my payer, which was promptly provided. After that, they requested additional documents from me, and I submitted everything required without delay. Despite complying with all their instructions, I was later informed that I would not receive my funds — without any clear explanation.

What made the situation worse was the way communication was handled. Calls with reception are recorded, but interactions with the fraud department appear not to be recorded. During my calls with representatives (including individuals identified as Caiphus and Hilton), I experienced what I perceived as unprofessional conduct, including abrupt call disconnections without explanation. At times, the tone of communication felt inappropriate and dismissive rather than supportive or solution-oriented.

As a customer dealing with financial matters, transparency, accountability, and respectful communication are essential. Unfortunately, my experience with Payfast did not reflect those standards. The lack of clear explanations and the handling of my case have left me feeling frustrated and unsupported.

I hope Payfast takes customer service, transparency, and internal accountability more seriously moving forward, as trust is critical in the money transfer industry…

The worst payment processor you could ever use. They have no customer support. As a merchant I have been locked out of my account for a year and it's practically destroyed my business.

Customer service reps tell you the same story every time. And nobody knows how to resolve the issue.

I am writing this review as a formal warning to any South African business considering using Payfast as their payment gateway. Our experience has been nothing short of a nightmare, highlighting extreme business risk.

Without any prior warning, notification, or opportunity to rectify any alleged issue, Payfast's Compliance Team terminated our merchant account with immediate effect. The termination email cited a vague "notification from ABSA" regarding our product categories (legitimate supplements) but provided zero specifics or evidence.

Crucially, they have blocked all access to the account, which still contains our business's revenue. This means they are unlawfully withholding our funds.

The complete lack of due process is bad enough, but their customer service has been appalling:

1) Zero proactive communication: Termination came without notice.

2) Ignored formal dispute: A detailed email disputing their claims and demanding fund release has gone unanswered for days.

3) Dismissive and unhelpful support: When calling the number they provided, reception promised a callback that never came. A subsequent call to customer service Hannah resulted in being told to "sit and wait" and that no questions could be answered. We were effectively told to "bugger off."

They have left our online store without a payment gateway and are holding our money hostage without explanation or timeline. This is not just poor service; it is a fundamental breach of trust and a demonstration of how poorly they treat merchants once they have your funds.

Do not use Payfast if you value your business's financial stability and operational continuity. Their actions show they can—and will—act as judge, jury, and executioner without dialogue, leaving you without access to your income and no recourse. Consider this a serious risk warning.

If you ever see a website using this payment gateway, AVOID AT ALL COSTS. They protect fraudulent merchants and make no effort to resolve customers' issues. They take hours if not days to respond, and their only reply to inquiries is "We facilitate payment processing".

I don't go out of my way to write negative reviews; rather, the opposite, but my experience with Payfast has been the worst. Their communication is so bad, I received 2 emails in an 18 day struggle to get some feedback. 2 Days before my product was about to launch, I had to phone them for any information. Only much later, I received an email that I was not approved - ONE day before my product launch. This is after I spent money to get the whole thing set up. Their reason? My credit score, which is absolute BS as I received my Credit Score only 7 days prior, is the highest it has ever been with zero penalties. My suspicion is that they did not approve me because I only have one product that I was going to sell, and that just wouldn't have made Payfast enough money to have me as a client. Just really bad service, communication and overall experience. Stay very far away!

They keep losing my emails and the compliance department keep harrassing me for the same information after emailing it to them twice.

The worst customer support experience. I had issues getting my account verified a year ago for a different business, and the experience was frustrating and time consuming - and now I'm going through the same thing again.

NOTHING HAS IMPROVED.

I've been waiting since 25 Aug for them to verify my business account after submitting all the documents.

I spoke to their live help agent, Zoey, who said she's escalating the matter and I'll hear from the verification department "immediately". I asked her for a ticket number, she insisted there's no need to open a ticket because I'll hear from them immediately. I insisted on a ticket number, and eventually she created a ticket.

The very next morning I got an automated email saying my ticket has been closed. After not hearing from anybody, and my account still says "pending verification"... So I reopened the ticket.

I have yet to hear from them. My account has been "pending verification" for 3 weeks. My ticket is still open.

I do not recommend PayFast.

I bought a printer from a company who uses Payfast as payment processor. Turns out the company is a fraud. I tried to contact the merchant, SARS, tried Payfast to assist in getting hold of the merchant and inform them that they have a fraudulent company listed and they simply told me "to contact the merchant" (ticket 1524169). Like I haven't tried that yet. Your fraud policy https : // payfast . io / security-fraud / is BS Payfast. Your assistance to customers and commitment to ensuring the merchants you host are real and not scams is a downright disaster. Be better.

We have been Payfast clients with our other businesses for years now and I am so shocked this morning with Payfast. We have a dating site and registered Pty company for this. Our account was opened and our developer was busy developing the payfast platform. I get an email this morning to advise the account has been closed and suitable for our Switch facility. I mean really what's going on here. In this day and age a registered legal company being declined because its a dating web site. This is discrimination at its best. Rather go to Ozow they have no issues and open your account within 2 days.
And then they lied and said its the bank, i spoke to the banks and found out they dont have issues, its Payfast themselves.

They LOCKED My Account. THEY REFUSE To UNLOCK My Account 😠😡🤬

PayFAST I Have NOT Saved my Merchant ID on My Hard Drive. HOW AM I Suppose to Give you My Merchant ID WHEN YOU REFUSE To LET ME LOG IN.

They REFUSE to HELP ME. DO NOT USE PayFast USELESS Support SERVICE USELESS!!! USELESS!!! USELESS!!! Incompetent and USELESS!!!

DO NOT DO Business with PAYAST :(

I have been a merchant of Payfast for 8 years. Recently a customer of my business stole rental equipment from my business which was paid for through the Payfast gateway. After requesting assistance, Payfast refused to act on the information of fraud and theft provided by me. They blankly refused to blacklist the person. Payfast is apparently not serious about acting against fraudulent customers and seemingly aiding and abetting fraud.

I am extremely disappointed with my experience using PayFast. After opening an account and processing my first legitimate transaction, I was abruptly flagged as a "high-risk merchant" when I attempted to withdraw funds to fulfill a client’s order. Without warning or justification, PayFast blocked my withdrawal and gave me an unreasonable ultimatum: wait 180 days to access my own money or have my account terminated with an immediate reversal.

This decision caused significant disruption to my business and forced me to refund my client, damaging my reputation. There was no fraud or suspicious activity, just a new merchant trying to operate in good faith. PayFast’s lack of transparency, poor communication, and extreme restrictions make it impossible for small businesses, especially startups, to rely on their services.

Instead of supporting entrepreneurs, they impose punitive measures without explanation. I had no choice but to accept the reversal and close my account. I strongly advise other business owners particularly those in emerging industries to proceed with caution or seek alternative payment processors.

Payfast are the biggest frauds I have ever encountered. An error happened while a payment was processed, but the money still went off. The error message said to contact support at Payfast. When I did that, they insisted that I need to speak with the vendor. Upon doing so, the vendor advised that no money pulled through on their side and that since the error happened with Payfast, I need to take it up with them. But Payfast has been avoiding being accountable about where my money went, at every turn. Absolutely disgusting, and I'm Not going to let it slide