PayFast
Verified Business
|2.5|99 Reviews (last 12 months)|Responds in 16h 15m
PayFast
Verified Business
|2.5
99 Reviews (last 12 months)
Responds in 16h 15m
Scores reflect the Overall AI Score for each category
PayFast
Scores reflect the Overall AI Score for each category
Based on recent customer reviews, PayFast shows a deeply polarised customer experience. While individual agents like Torique, Byron, and Kamo earn glowing praise for resolving issues, the dominant pattern is severe dissatisfaction with verification delays, withheld funds, and unresponsive support. Merchants describe weeks or months of waiting for account activation, payouts, and refunds, with many migrating to competitors like Yoco and Ozow.
Replied to 98% of negative reviews
Reply time on negative reviews: 23h 44m
TrustIndex
5
Ranking
#13
in Payments & Fintech
Reply Time
16h 15m
NPS Score
-9
Recommended: Unlikely
Replied to 98% of negative reviews
Reply time on negative reviews: 23h 44m
Sep '25 - Aug '26
Based on recent customer reviews, PayFast shows a deeply polarised customer experience. While individual agents like Torique, Byron, and Kamo earn glowing praise for resolving issues, the dominant pattern is severe dissatisfaction with verification delays, withheld funds, and unresponsive support. Merchants describe weeks or months of waiting for account activation, payouts, and refunds, with many migrating to competitors like Yoco and Ozow.
PayFast's biggest strength, according to Hellopeter's AI analysis, is Customer Service & Professional Guidance. Customer Service & Professional Guidance (2.4) shows a split experience. Named agents like Torique, Byron, Kamo Mototo, Jade D, and Rebecca receive exceptional praise for patience and proactive help. However, many customers report rude agents, dismissive chat support, and consultants who fail to take ownership of cases.
Used this business recently? Share your experience to help others decide.
Used this business recently? Share your experience to help others decide.
Share Your Experience1 reviews | Active since Feb 2025
After struggling with an issue regarding verification for a few days, I was assisted by Torique who solved my issue in no time!
1 reviews | Active since Feb 2025
After struggling with an issue regarding verification for a few days, I was assisted by Torique who solved my issue in no time!
1 reviews | Active since Jun 2017
Payfast provides the opportunity online with chatbot which would be wonderful if: when you choose to speak to a consultant, you actually get to speak to a consultant until the problem is solved. They clearly also do not check if opened chats are solved and closed off. This way they can ensure all calls are closed off. There is no way to contact them besides chatbot which clearly doesnn't work. When raising a query, they may respond after an hour or more. I have clients to see, I cannot sit there and watch my phone for an hour or more until a consultant responds to me 1 to 6 hours later, or in my case not at all. Please add some human touch and logic to your customer service.
1 reviews | Active since Jun 2017
Payfast provides the opportunity online with chatbot which would be wonderful if: when you choose to speak to a consultant, you actually get to speak to a consultant until the problem is solved. They clearly also do not check if opened chats are solved and closed off. This way they can ensure all calls are closed off. There is no way to contact them besides chatbot which clearly doesnn't work. When raising a query, they may respond after an hour or more. I have clients to see, I cannot sit there and watch my phone for an hour or more until a consultant responds to me 1 to 6 hours later, or in my case not at all. Please add some human touch and logic to your customer service.
1 reviews | Active since Dec 2019
I spoke with a representative by the name of Zoey on 6 May 2026 at 1:23 pm for 8 min:40. I wanted to query my refund as I've not recieved it for more than 14 days. She was very unhelpful and *********** and very poor service. She told me that the refund will take more than 14 days which is what I already told her she asked if I had sent all my banking details with my ISP I told her yes the message I received was directly from Pay fast team on 22 April 2026 that the refund is on its way, I told her I'm upset because yesterday when I spoke with another pay fast rep she said the refund was reversed and when I asked why I wasn't given an answer. She kept telling me that they are only a payment gateway and that I should contact the ISP and I told her it's outside the ISP because the message came directly from the pay fast team. This is not the first time I've recieved a refund from pay fast and it certainly didn't take more than 14 days to receive. I asked to speak to her manager she said no the manager is in a meeting I told her I can wait she said no she can schedule me for a callback or put my number voluntarily on DNC without me prompting it and when I told her to drop the line so I can rate her she kept me on a silent call for a few min then dropped so I can't rate her. This is unacceptable and *********** behavior and very rude poor customer service. I then spoke with Jade from complaints team who apologized sincerly and said to expect the refund on 14/05/2026 as the working days would exclude the easter holidays I calmed down abit cause she was polite she asked to remove the initial HelloPeter review but now Its 15/05/2026 I still havent recieved my refund and now I have to chase Payfast with my refund and waste my airtime because it seems not only is it Supersonic that delayed my refund as it should have been raised on 8 April 2026 they raised it late on 22/04/2026 now I have to deal with payfast becuase it seems they only take matters seriously when a review is written on Hello Peter about them, If ever any provider wants me to use PAYFAST for any payments I would rather find an alternative payment method than to use payfast cause they dont keep their word especially when it comes to refunds , highly dissapointed. Regards Nokwanda ***
1 reviews | Active since Dec 2019
I spoke with a representative by the name of Zoey on 6 May 2026 at 1:23 pm for 8 min:40. I wanted to query my refund as I've not recieved it for more than 14 days. She was very unhelpful and *********** and very poor service. She told me that the refund will take more than 14 days which is what I already told her she asked if I had sent all my banking details with my ISP I told her yes the message I received was directly from Pay fast team on 22 April 2026 that the refund is on its way, I told her I'm upset because yesterday when I spoke with another pay fast rep she said the refund was reversed and when I asked why I wasn't given an answer. She kept telling me that they are only a payment gateway and that I should contact the ISP and I told her it's outside the ISP because the message came directly from the pay fast team. This is not the first time I've recieved a refund from pay fast and it certainly didn't take more than 14 days to receive. I asked to speak to her manager she said no the manager is in a meeting I told her I can wait she said no she can schedule me for a callback or put my number voluntarily on DNC without me prompting it and when I told her to drop the line so I can rate her she kept me on a silent call for a few min then dropped so I can't rate her. This is unacceptable and *********** behavior and very rude poor customer service. I then spoke with Jade from complaints team who apologized sincerly and said to expect the refund on 14/05/2026 as the working days would exclude the easter holidays I calmed down abit cause she was polite she asked to remove the initial HelloPeter review but now Its 15/05/2026 I still havent recieved my refund and now I have to chase Payfast with my refund and waste my airtime because it seems not only is it Supersonic that delayed my refund as it should have been raised on 8 April 2026 they raised it late on 22/04/2026 now I have to deal with payfast becuase it seems they only take matters seriously when a review is written on Hello Peter about them, If ever any provider wants me to use PAYFAST for any payments I would rather find an alternative payment method than to use payfast cause they dont keep their word especially when it comes to refunds , highly dissapointed. Regards Nokwanda ***
1 reviews | Active since Jul 2011
Been trying since Tuesday to apply and set up card machine an online payment platform for websites. Filled in everything online, submitted all the paperwork. Got a ticket number. Been trying to follow up on the ticket and the ONLY option is to do an online chatbot chat BEFORE logging into my existing account. I cannot find any way to communicate with PayFast whilst logged in on system. Emails are not being responded to and the people on the online chat are just as un-helpful. What do I have to do to speak to a HUMAN that will actually be able to give me an update on my application? Why is it so hard to get good service for something so simple?
1 reviews | Active since Jul 2011
Been trying since Tuesday to apply and set up card machine an online payment platform for websites. Filled in everything online, submitted all the paperwork. Got a ticket number. Been trying to follow up on the ticket and the ONLY option is to do an online chatbot chat BEFORE logging into my existing account. I cannot find any way to communicate with PayFast whilst logged in on system. Emails are not being responded to and the people on the online chat are just as un-helpful. What do I have to do to speak to a HUMAN that will actually be able to give me an update on my application? Why is it so hard to get good service for something so simple?
1 reviews | Active since May 2026
We chose to integrate our web based platform with Payfast. The platform allows organizers of national sport shooting competitions to run sports events and allow scoring for competitive purposes. Payfast took 3-4 weeks to get back to me after I've supp**** all the required info, and they eventually let me know that our business "does not align with the risk and compliance parameters set for our aggregation model." They also cunningly decided to not allow this decision to be appealed AND they went ahead and blocked my merchant account! Payfast you are an utter disgrace to the term 'customer service' and we will be happily taking our business elsewhere. To all business owners thinking about using Payfast... DONT... they will waste your time and they know nothing about customer retention, customer service or general decency....
1 reviews | Active since May 2026
We chose to integrate our web based platform with Payfast. The platform allows organizers of national sport shooting competitions to run sports events and allow scoring for competitive purposes. Payfast took 3-4 weeks to get back to me after I've supp**** all the required info, and they eventually let me know that our business "does not align with the risk and compliance parameters set for our aggregation model." They also cunningly decided to not allow this decision to be appealed AND they went ahead and blocked my merchant account! Payfast you are an utter disgrace to the term 'customer service' and we will be happily taking our business elsewhere. To all business owners thinking about using Payfast... DONT... they will waste your time and they know nothing about customer retention, customer service or general decency....
1 reviews | Active since Aug 2024
I made an online purchase from a merchant and paid R929 through Payfast. The merchant encountered a difficulty with fulfilling the order so he kindly returned the payment of R929 to Payfast two days later. I wait several days for the credit to arrive on my credit card, but I wait in vain. So I contact Payfast and ask "Where be my money?" I get a whole page of gobblede**** from Fatima Salie I must get it from the merchant. The merchant has now returned payment to Payfast, so his hands are clean, Payfast accepts the refund from the merchant so id R929 richer. Payfast refuses to refund me because that's not in their business model Avoid using these guys if there's the slightest chance of your purchase being unsuccessful. They are outright *******
1 reviews | Active since Aug 2024
I made an online purchase from a merchant and paid R929 through Payfast. The merchant encountered a difficulty with fulfilling the order so he kindly returned the payment of R929 to Payfast two days later. I wait several days for the credit to arrive on my credit card, but I wait in vain. So I contact Payfast and ask "Where be my money?" I get a whole page of gobblede**** from Fatima Salie I must get it from the merchant. The merchant has now returned payment to Payfast, so his hands are clean, Payfast accepts the refund from the merchant so id R929 richer. Payfast refuses to refund me because that's not in their business model Avoid using these guys if there's the slightest chance of your purchase being unsuccessful. They are outright *******
1 reviews | Active since May 2026
Anastacia, GIVE THIS WOMAN A RAISE!! She's absolutely amazing. Had an issue with my profile and she managed to fix it within minutes of the call. Really amazing customer service from her end! 5 star service!! Thank you so much.
1 reviews | Active since May 2026
Anastacia, GIVE THIS WOMAN A RAISE!! She's absolutely amazing. Had an issue with my profile and she managed to fix it within minutes of the call. Really amazing customer service from her end! 5 star service!! Thank you so much.
1 reviews | Active since Dec 2016
1 star is still a lot. Been 3weeks, 3WEEKS!!!!!!! and my account is still not verified. Each day calling them with promises that it will be verified by close of business that day and does not happen. Email does not get answers as they ignore their emails. What a shame for such a big company.
1 reviews | Active since Dec 2016
1 star is still a lot. Been 3weeks, 3WEEKS!!!!!!! and my account is still not verified. Each day calling them with promises that it will be verified by close of business that day and does not happen. Email does not get answers as they ignore their emails. What a shame for such a big company.
The most common complaint about PayFast, based on Hellopeter's AI analysis of recent customer reviews, is Process Efficiency & Turnaround. Process Efficiency & Turnaround (1.5) is the most damaging theme. Verification routinely takes weeks or months, with customers citing 3+ months of stalled onboarding. Repeated document requests, unclear status, and competitor benchmarks like Yoco approving in 24 hours dominate complaints.
PayFast scores 1.9 out of 5 on Hellopeter's AI analysis of service quality in Payments & Fintech, compared to the Payments & Fintech industry average of 2.6. Their strongest theme is Onboarding & Setup (2.5); their weakest is Account Security (1.5). The top AI-rated Payments & Fintech business on Hellopeter is AltcoinTrader (3.8). How is the AI Score calculated? →
PayFast has a TrustIndex of 5 out of 10 on Hellopeter, based on 99 reviews in the last 12 months. They reply to 98% of negative reviews, typically within 23 hours 44 min. Hellopeter has tracked PayFast across 1,105 total reviews. How is the TrustIndex calculated? →