How to sign up for Pay@ Gateway

4 min read

Quick answer #

To sign up for Pay@ Gateway, visit [PH-001] and complete the online form. You’ll need a few business details, ID documents, and bank account information ready. Signup itself takes around 10 minutes, and your sandbox account is active immediately — you can start building your integration before verification completes. Same-day approval is standard for verified applicants who finish signup before midday on a business day.

Before you start #

Have these ready so you don’t have to interrupt the signup flow:

Your SA ID document (smart ID card, ID book, or passport for non-citizens)
Your business registration documents (CIPC certificate for Pty Ltd, or you’ll declare sole trader status)
Your business bank account details — account number, branch code, and a recent statement or confirmation letter
Your business email address — this becomes your account login
Your business phone number — used for verification SMS
Estimated monthly transaction volume — a rough number is fine

Having these to hand turns signup from a 30-minute hunt-and-find exercise into a 10-minute fill-and-submit.

Step 1 — Visit the signup page #

Go to [PH-001].

[PH-002]

Step 2 — Choose your business type #

Pay@ Gateway supports the main South African business structures:

Sole proprietor — you trade in your own name. ID document is your registration.
Private company (Pty Ltd) — registered with CIPC. Most common SME structure.
Non-profit (NPC) or trust — supported but require additional documents. Contact our onboarding team for a guided walkthrough.

Pick the structure that matches your business. This determines which documents you’ll be asked for.

Step 3 — Enter your business details #

You’ll be asked for:

Trading name — the name customers know you as
Registered name — for Pty Ltd, must match CIPC records exactly
Registration number — CIPC number for Pty Ltd
Industry / business category — pick the closest match
Estimated monthly card volume — a ballpark figure (your actual usage isn’t limited by this)
Trading address — physical address where business is conducted
Business website — if you have one

For sole traders, the trading name and registered name can be the same.

Step 4 — Add your personal details #

For Pty Ltd, you’ll add details for every director:

Full name
SA ID number (or passport)
Email address
Mobile number
Residential address

For sole proprietors, only your details are needed.

Step 5 — Upload your documents #

Upload the documents from the checklist above. Accepted formats: PDF, JPEG, PNG. Each file under 10MB. Photos from a phone are fine as long as all four corners of the document are visible and the text is readable.

You’ll typically need:

ID document for each director (or for yourself as sole trader)
CIPC certificate or company disclosure (Pty Ltd)
Bank confirmation letter or recent statement (no older than 3 months)
Proof of address (utility bill or lease, no older than 3 months)

See What documents do I need for FICA / KYC — Article 02 — for the full breakdown by business type.

Step 6 — Enter your bank account #

Add the business bank account where settlements will be paid. You’ll need account number, branch code (universal codes are fine — see Article 05), and account type.

The account must be in the business’s name for Pty Ltd, or in your name for sole traders.

Step 7 — Review and submit #

Review all the information before submitting. Mistakes here cause verification delays — particularly mismatches between the name you’ve entered and what appears on CIPC or your bank.

Submit. You’ll see a confirmation screen with:

Your merchant ID
A link to your sandbox API keys
The expected verification timeline (typically 24 hours)

What happens next #

The moment you submit:

Your sandbox account is active. You can sign in, view your dashboard, generate test API keys, and start building.
Verification runs in the background. You’ll receive emails as each check completes (identity, business, bank account).
You can install plugins on Shopify, WooCommerce, or Wix in test mode straight away.

Most merchants spend the first day building or testing while verification completes. By the time you’re ready to go live, your account usually is too.

After signup #

Your next reading list:

What documents do I need for FICA / KYC — Article 02
How long does verification take — Article 03
How to add my business bank account — Article 05
Switching from sandbox to live — Article 11

Need help during signup #

Stuck mid-signup? Don’t start over — your progress is saved. Contact us at [PH-039] and we’ll pick you up where you stopped.