South African online payments gateway provider Payfast has undergone a major rebrand, as it intensifies its strategy to better serve the local e-commerce market.
The announcement was made by PayfastMD, Brendon Williamson, during a webinar yesterday.
Having been acquired by Network International-owned Direct Pay Online (DPO) Group in 2019, Payfast has now joined forces with sister brands PayGate and SiD Secure under Network International’s ownership.
According to the company, the consolidation sees Payfast being integrated into Network International’s services to increase the range of payment options available to customers, while providing a Pan-African solution to Payfast’s existing customer base.
Founded in 2007, Cape Town-based Payfast offers payments processing services for the e-commerce market across the African continent. The company enables transfer of money between online buyers and sellers.
In 2022, online retail passed the R50 billion milestone in SA, propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many local businesses to set up online presence.
“By combining the capabilities of three of South Africa’s biggest e-commerce players under one powerful entity, we have strengthened our ability to deliver on our promise to partners – which is to do everything we can to unleash their growth potential.
“We’ve created an environment where some of the industry’s top minds can share ideas and work together towards innovation in the payments sector,” explained Williamson.
The rebrand also includes a fresh logo and colour palette, while the company’s official Web site domain has also changed to payfast.io.
Network International comprises a group of companies, providing a suite of technology-enabled payments solutions to merchants and financial institutions across the Middle East and Africa region.
In 2021, the company finalised its acquisition of DPO Group.
During the webinar, Chris Wood, regional MD for Southern Africa and PALOPS at Network International, unpacked the potential of Payfast’s rebrand, as well as the companies’ combined mission.
“This is more than just a cosmetic change; it’s a major step in the merging of industry giants. By creating a unified brand and legal entity that everyone we’ve brought together will associate with, both internally and externally, we will solidify a single vision to take the business forward. At an industry level, the partnership enables us to ensure that local e-commerce remains on par with international trends,” said Wood.
Looking ahead, the company says it plans to leverage the skills, technology, and ideas of the combined workforce to boost e-commerce opportunities and capabilities for their merchants.
Network International is in the process of bringing its technology stack, Network One, into the South African market.
This will allow the company to run an unlimited number of banks, telcos and retailers’ payments systems on a single platform, it says.
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