PayFast System Error Leaves Local Online Store Merchants Frustrated
Key Highlights :
On Wednesday morning, a range of local online store merchants were left frustrated and unable to do business as PayFast, South Africa's leading online payment processing service, reported a system error. Payment gateways are essential for running online stores as they allow for transactions to be completed for confirmed orders. It is not immediately clear how many merchants were left unable to transact before the matter was resolved.
PayFast logged a ticket on their status page at 04:00 on 20 September which said that it was investigating an issue that left some merchants unable to log into their accounts. News24 spoke to two people in PayFast’s merchant support department, who didn’t want to be named, who confirmed the problem. When News24 called at around 11:15, they said the issue had been resolved. One merchant support worker said that everyone was unable to access their accounts, while another chose not to reveal the scale of the issue.
Before the issue was resolved, PayFast took to social media to say that it was working to resolve the matter as “a matter of urgency”. Another problem was logged on the PayFast system dashboard on Monday. The description of the Monday issue is identical to the one logged on Wednesday, and lasted for about three hours before it was resolved.
Ali van Wyk, the co-owner of Huisraad Modern, a vintage furniture store with an online presence, was left frustrated by the glitch. When News24 spoke to him, before the system was resolved, he said that all of his credit facilities were down and he had no idea when they would be back up. “If you have cash flow issues at the moment, it’s a moer of a problem,” he said. He also reported experiencing issues a few days ago.
Many other merchants took to social media to voice their frustrations. Van Wyk confirmed he was able to log in to the system again at 11:25.
PayFast’s system error left many merchants unable to transact and caused significant disruption to their businesses. It is unclear what caused the system error, however, PayFast acted quickly to resolve the issue as a matter of urgency. While it was a difficult situation for merchants, it is important to note that PayFast is one of the most reliable online payment processing services in South Africa and that they take their customers’ needs seriously.
