For many African businesses, every sale comes with a hidden cost. Transaction fees, settlement delays, and reconciliation errors can quietly erode profit margins. Whether it’s a retailer in Lusaka accepting Airtel Money, a logistics operator in Harare processing EcoCash, or a hotel in Johannesburg settling foreign card transactions, the same challenge repeats: getting paid is expensive.
At Zoyk, we’ve analyzed payment patterns across Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and South Africa markets at the heart of the SADC region to understand what truly drives cost in payment collection.
What we’ve found is that affordability isn’t just about choosing the cheapest payment method. It’s about using the right mix through the right infrastructure.
Understanding Payment Costs in Africa
The cost of collecting customer payments varies widely across Africa. The differences come down to four key factors:
- Transaction fees charged by mobile money providers, banks, or card processors.
- Exchange and conversion rates when settlements occur across currencies.
- Settlement times that affect liquidity and cash flow.
- Infrastructure or POS costs tied to agents, devices, or system integrations.
While mobile money has made payments more accessible, it hasn’t necessarily made them cheaper at scale. Domestic transfers are low-cost and fast, but cross-border settlements, especially between Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, can introduce multiple fees for conversion and reconciliation.
Cards and online gateways, on the other hand, offer convenience but often charge between 2% and 4% per transaction, particularly in South Africa’s more developed banking ecosystem. For smaller merchants, those fees quickly add up.
In short, the true cost of payment collection in Africa isn’t only about price, it’s about process.
