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Get paid through PayFast, without the chasing.
Paid sends your clients a pay link for every deposit, monthly statement, invoice and shop order, over WhatsApp or email. They pay by card or EFT through PayFast, straight into your account, and Paid marks it paid the moment PayFast confirms it.
Connect in about five minutes
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Step 1
Sign in to PayFast
Open Settings → Developer Settings in your PayFast dashboard. Your Merchant ID and Merchant Key are at the top.
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Step 2
Set a passphrase
On the same page, set a Salt Passphrase if you don't have one. It's the secret that proves a payment message really came from PayFast.
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Step 3
Paste them into Paid
In Paid, go to Settings → Getting paid and paste the Merchant ID, Merchant Key and passphrase. They're stored encrypted.
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Step 4
Test, then go live
Test mode is on to start, using the PayFast sandbox, so you can try a payment without real money. Untick it when you're ready.
How payments are confirmed
A payment only counts when PayFast's notification passes every one of these checks. A notification that fails is kept with its reason, so nothing is marked paid by mistake.
- Signed both ways. Every checkout is signed with your passphrase, and every payment notification must carry a valid signature or it's refused.
- Only from PayFast. Notifications are accepted only from PayFast's own addresses, checked against PayFast's published hosts.
- The right amount. The amount paid must match what was owed on that link; anything else is refused and recorded.
- Confirmed with PayFast. Each notification is sent back to PayFast to confirm it's genuine before anything is marked paid.
- Once only. A payment is recorded once, however many times PayFast sends the notification, and only on a link that's still open.
Questions
Does the money go through Paid?
No. Clients pay into your own PayFast account and PayFast pays you out as usual. Paid never holds your money; it marks the payment against the right booking, statement or invoice.
What can clients pay for?
Booking deposits, monthly fee statements, quotes and invoices, shop orders and gift vouchers, and QR code pay points for walk-ins. Each has its own pay link that works on any phone.
Can clients pay every month automatically?
Yes, for monthly statements. A client can choose to save their card with PayFast when they pay, and Paid charges it for each new statement. PayFast's recurring billing (tokenisation) needs to be switched on for your PayFast account.
Which payment methods are there?
Whatever your PayFast account offers: card, instant EFT and the others PayFast supports.
What does it cost?
PayFast charges its usual transaction fees. Paid's plans are on the pricing page; there's no extra charge for using PayFast.