PayFast To Be Accepting Bitcoin Payments

One of the most popular online payment methods in South Africa is PayFast. They recently announced they would be accepting bitcoin payments as they have an agreement with BitX which is the largest bitcoin exchange in Africa.

It will be interesting to see just how well PayFast works with bitcoin because it could be a vision of things to come with other online payment providers. What makes PayFast different when it comes to accepting bitcoin is that customers can pay in bitcoin while the sellers will receive payment in South African money. Users who pay with bitcoin will see the real-time exchange rate and then the transaction is made. And with bitcoin the transaction fee is lower at 1.9% compared to the 3.9% of most EFT’s.

Many online payment providers are keeping a close eye on what happens with PayFast because bitcoin is gaining more popularity on a daily basis. Some big companies like Overstock.com and Dell are accepting bitcoin and it may not be long before more online payment processors begin accepting it as well. Just after PayFast announced they would accept bitcoins, one of the biggest ecommerce stores in South Africa, Takealot, announced they would begin accepting bitcoin payments.

Online payment options continue to expand and it may not be long before other companies follow the lead of PayFast and begin integrating bitcoin into their systems.