South African online shoppers are not settling on one preferred way to pay. Even the most popular payment method, instant EFT or automated bank transfer, is favoured by just 16.4% of consumers. For retailers, that should be a clear signal: the checkout experience needs to offer flexibility, not assume everyone wants to pay the same way.
Payflex CMO Tracey-Lee Zürcher
The latest Online Retail in South Africa 2026 report, by World Wide Worx, Mastercard, Peach Payments and Ask Afrika, shows just how fragmented payment preferences have become. Debit cards follow at 15.3%, saved card details at 10.6%, credit cards at 9.3% and Capitec Pay at 9.1%.
There is no runaway favourite. Instead, shoppers are choosing payment methods according to what works for them, with speed and security emerging as the two biggest considerations.
Payment flexibility is becoming part of the shopping experience
This matters as retailers prepare for peak shopping season. Offering more payment options is useful, but simply adding methods to a checkout does not guarantee a better experience. Retailers need to understand what their customers actually use and what makes them feel comfortable completing a purchase.
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) is one example of how those preferences are evolving. More than half of the online retailers surveyed, 54.7%, now offer BNPL at checkout, compared with 15.9% reporting usage in 2025.
Consumer adoption is also gaining ground. Of the 1,400 online shoppers surveyed, 45.6% said they use BNPL. A further 12.4% said having it available enables them to make higher-value purchases, while 9.9% said it makes checkout easier and 9% said it encourages them to shop more frequently.
For consumers, the appeal is flexibility in managing payments. For retailers, the opportunity lies in understanding where that flexibility makes a meaningful difference to the customer experience.
Shoppers are still exploring their options
Payment preferences are not fixed. Among consumers who identified a new payment method they would consider, 71% said they were likely to try one within the next year.
BNPL leads the options they would consider at 11.6%, closely followed by PayShap at 11.5%, instant EFT at 9.8% and Apple Pay at 9.6%.
That willingness to experiment makes it difficult for retailers to rely on a payment mix that worked last year. Customer behaviour is changing, and the checkout needs to evolve alongside it.
There is no single payment winner
The South African payments market is moving towards greater choice, not one dominant method. Retailers should pay attention to what customers actually select, how those preferences change and where different payment options make the purchase process easier.
As peak shopping season approaches, the advantage will not necessarily go to retailers with the longest list of payment methods. It will go to those who understand their customers well enough to offer the right options at the right moment.
