Recurring Payments and Subscriptions in South Africa: Card Billing vs Debit Orders
To bill customers automatically every month in South Africa you have two routes: recurring card billing through a payment gateway that supports subscriptions or saved cards, or debit orders collected from the customer’s bank account. PayFast, Peach Payments and Paystack all support recurring card billing. Yoco, one of the most popular gateways for small businesses, does not: its own FAQ says the Yoco Gateway “doesn’t currently support subscriptions or recurring billing”. Debit orders are a separate system, run through your bank or a debit order provider, and since 2021 the stronger DebiCheck version has been required for some types of collection.
This guide is for gyms, clubs, coaches, membership sites, software products and service businesses on a monthly retainer. It covers what each option really involves, using what the providers and the payments industry body say on their own sites (checked 29 October 2026). For the general fee comparison, see our guide to payment gateways in South Africa.
Card billing or debit orders: the short version
| Recurring card billing | Debit orders | |
|---|---|---|
| What is charged | The customer’s credit or debit card | The customer’s bank account |
| How the customer agrees | Pays once online, card is stored securely | Signs a mandate, or approves it with their bank (DebiCheck) |
| Who you deal with | A payment gateway | Your bank or a debit order provider |
| Typical fit | Online memberships, software, small monthly fees | Larger or longer contracts, customers without cards |
| Main risk | Expired or replaced cards | Disputes, unless the mandate is bank approved |
Neither is better in every case. Many businesses use card billing for online sign-ups and keep debit orders for long contracts.
Which gateways support recurring card billing
PayFast (now “Payfast by Network”) offers two methods. Its developer documentation says: “Create two methods of recurring payments: Subscriptions and Tokenization. For Recurring Billing only the credit card option can be used.”
- Subscriptions charge on a fixed schedule. PayFast “will charge the credit card according to the frequency, billing date and number of payments (cycles) specified”, with frequencies from daily to annual, and the option to run indefinitely.
- Tokenization stores the card and charges it only when your system tells it to, which suits amounts that change month to month.
PayFast lists both under features “built right in” on its fees page, with no separate recurring fee shown. The normal card rate applies.
Peach Payments calls its product “Subscription and Recurring Payments”. Its documentation says “you must tokenise cards” first and that “You must get permission from your customers before tokenising their cards.” Note the pricing difference on its Growth plan fees page: standard 3D Secure card payments are listed at 2.95% plus R1.50, while recurring (non 3D Secure) card payments are listed at 3.50% plus R1.50, and there is a tokenisation fee of R200 a month for unlimited cards. The same page also says there are no monthly fees on the Growth plan, so confirm the current position with Peach before you budget.
Paystack (a Stripe company) offers “Subscriptions” and “Plans”, billed from hourly to annually. In South Africa this is card only: Paystack’s documentation says it supports “Card and Direct Debit (Nigeria) only”. One practical detail: subscriptions created on the 29th to 31st of a month are billed on the 28th of each following month. Paystack also has no built-in free trial feature, which our Paystack South Africa guide covers alongside its other features.
Yoco does not offer subscriptions. Besides the FAQ above, Yoco’s gateway page answers “Can I take subscription payments?” with “Not yet”. Its payment links are single use: “One link takes one payment.” If you already use Yoco in-store and online, you would need a second provider for recurring billing.
Ozow offers recurring collections, but not by card. Its subscriptions API is for Capitec accounts only: the customer approves a consent in their Capitec app, and later collections happen without a further prompt.
Netcash offers card subscription billing through payment requests sent by SMS, WhatsApp, email or QR code, alongside its debit order services.
How the first payment works
Recurring card billing almost always starts with the customer present. They enter their card on the gateway’s secure page and complete the bank’s verification (the one-time PIN or app approval known as 3D Secure). After that, later charges run in the background.
PayFast describes a useful variation: if you set the first amount to R0.00, the customer still enters their card and goes through 3D Secure, “but no money will be deducted”. That suits a free trial that converts to a paid plan. Paystack recommends a small first charge for the same reason, because its rules require the card to be authenticated in an initial transaction before it can be charged again.
Debit orders and DebiCheck
South Africa runs two debit order systems. The Payments Association of South Africa (PASA), the industry body, puts it this way: there is “the legacy Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) debit system and the more modern ISO 20022-based system branded as DebiCheck.”
The difference is who confirms the mandate:
- EFT debit orders need a valid contract with the customer, but the customer does not confirm it with their bank.
- DebiCheck debit orders are “approved by the consumer with their bank, at the start of a new contract”, through the banking app, cellphone banking, USSD, an ATM or a branch, depending on the bank. The bank then “will not allow a DebiCheck debit order to be processed outside the terms that have been agreed”.
Is DebiCheck compulsory? Not for everything. The South African Reserve Bank announced that from 1 May 2021 all new and renegotiated early debit order (EDO) mandates had to go through DebiCheck. For ordinary debit orders, PASA’s FAQ says “Service providers choose whether to use DebiCheck or EFT Debit.” PASA notes that businesses typically use EFT debits for reliable customers because it is cost effective, and DebiCheck “where they are more concerned about being able to recover funds”, because collections under an approved mandate “cannot be unfairly disputed”.
To collect debit orders yourself you need a sponsoring bank arrangement, or a provider that does it for you. Netcash, for example, offers two-day, same-day and DebiCheck collections and says its platform suits organisations including SMEs. Debit order pricing is usually quoted rather than published. Netcash says the cost “depends on the number of customers you’re collecting from and the specific services you use”.
PayFast and Paystack do not offer South African debit orders: PayFast’s recurring billing is card only, and Paystack’s direct debit is Nigeria only.
What happens when a payment fails
Failed payments are where subscription businesses quietly lose money, so check this before you choose a provider.
- PayFast says it “will try a number of times to reprocess a payment” when the card has no funds, notifies the customer, and after repeated failure the subscription is “locked” until you reactivate it. It does not publish the exact number of retries.
- Paystack says plainly: “If a subscription charge fails, we don’t retry it.” The subscription is marked for attention and charged again on the next billing date. Paystack sends your system a notification when a charge fails and a monthly notice about cards that are about to expire, and it offers a page where customers can update their card.
- Netcash lists failed card subscription charges as unpaid, for you to resubmit.
In practice this means your website or app needs to listen for those failure notifications and do something useful with them: email the customer a link to update their card, pause access after a grace period, and show you who is behind. That logic lives on your side, not the gateway’s.
What you need on your website
For a simple monthly membership, a WooCommerce store can handle recurring billing with the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension and a gateway plugin that supports it. Our gateway guide notes that Peach and Paystack both support recurring payments through WooCommerce Subscriptions.
Anything beyond that, such as different plans, upgrades and downgrades mid-month, usage-based billing, family or team accounts, or a members’ area that locks when a payment fails, is custom web application development. It is also worth reading our guide on payment integration for booking and marketplace platforms, because deposits and split payments raise similar questions. For one-off invoices and deposits without a subscription, see accepting online payments as a service business.
If you are planning a subscription product and want to know which route fits, request a quote and tell us how you bill today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Yoco support recurring payments or subscriptions?
No. Yoco’s own FAQ says the Yoco Gateway “doesn’t currently support subscriptions or recurring billing”, and its gateway page answers “Not yet” to whether it can take subscription payments. Businesses that need recurring billing use PayFast, Peach Payments, Paystack or a debit order provider instead.
Which South African payment gateway is best for subscriptions?
It depends on how you bill. PayFast offers both fixed-schedule subscriptions and tokenised cards with no separate recurring fee listed. Paystack offers subscription plans on cards with one published local rate. Peach Payments supports tokenised recurring billing but lists a higher rate for recurring card payments and a monthly tokenisation fee.
Is DebiCheck mandatory in South Africa?
Not for all debit orders. The Reserve Bank required new and renegotiated early debit order mandates to use DebiCheck from 1 May 2021. For other debit orders, PASA says service providers choose whether to use DebiCheck or an EFT debit.
What is the difference between a debit order and a recurring card payment?
A debit order collects from the customer’s bank account under a mandate, through your bank or a debit order provider. A recurring card payment charges a card the customer saved with a payment gateway. Cards can expire or be replaced, while bank accounts change less often.
What happens if a customer’s subscription payment fails?
It depends on the provider. PayFast retries a number of times and then locks the subscription. Paystack does not retry and tries again on the next billing date. Either way, your website should react to the failure notification by asking the customer to update their card.
