hi @AM13 did you find a workable solution? What is Payfasts Maximum Payment Limit currently? Hoping you are still in business in 2024 and have a solution
Topic summary
South African Shopify merchants face limited payment gateway choices, especially for selling to US/EU customers, because Shopify Payments isn’t available locally. Key friction points are currency handling (ZAR vs USD) and bank payout requirements.
Guidance from Shopify: keep the store in the native currency (ZAR), use a supported South African gateway, and use a currency display app; checkout still occurs in ZAR. PayPal Express currency support must be confirmed directly with PayPal.
Paths explored:
- 2Checkout: requested months of sales history, making it impractical for new stores.
- USD-first setup: switch store currency to USD, open/verify a PayPal Business account, link it to an FNB (First National Bank) account, activate PayPal in Shopify, and receive payouts in USD. Trade‑off: you lose access to SA gateways (PayFast, Peach Payments, Yoco) and may deter local ZAR buyers.
- ZAR-first setup: keep ZAR and use PayFast (cards/EFT); ask PayFast to enable multi‑currency so buyers choose currency at redirect.
- Offshore/alternative routes: Stripe Atlas (US company/bank) to access Shopify Payments; consider WooCommerce with Peach Payments for custom multi‑currency checkout.
Status: no single “straightforward” solution; merchants pick between USD+PayPal or ZAR+local gateways. Discussion remains unresolved.