Pay by Bank
The payer authorises the payment directly from their bank account.
On this page5 sections
Build with AI 1 package
A build package is every page for one task, with the API operations they use. Copy the prompt into a coding assistant, or hand it the package itself: slim links to each page, full inlines all of them in one document.
- Take a paymentEverything needed to take a payment end to end with One API, from credentials through the hosted page to the webhook that confirms it, and the test cases that prove each outcome before you go live.
Pay by BankPay by Bank The payer authorises the payment inside their own banking app or online banking, and the funds move from their bank account. No card is involved and no card details are entered. lets your customer pay you directly from their bank account. No card, no registration, no stored details; they authorise the payment with their bank and the money moves from their account to yours.
It's Ozow's core payment method and the one enabled on your account by default. It reaches the roughly 47 million South Africans with a bank account, including the large share who have no credit card or prefer not to use one online.
The other thing that sets it apart: once a Pay by Bank payment is confirmed, it's irrevocable. There's no chargebackChargeback A completed card payment reversed by the customer's bank after a successful dispute. The funds come back out, and the process runs between the banks rather than through Ozow, so it is not something you can approve or refuse. Your transaction records and delivery confirmations are what it is decided on. mechanism the way there is with card.
How your customer pays
- Your customer chooses to pay by bank at checkout and selects their bank.
- They authorise the payment, either by signing in through Ozow's secure payment page, or by approving it in their own banking app, depending on the bank.
- Ozow confirms the payment.
- Your customer returns to your site.
Step 2 is where the experience differs, and that's what the bank API methods below are about.
Bank API payments
Ozow has direct API integrations with a number of South African banks. Where one exists, your customer authorises the payment inside their own bank's app or channel rather than entering internet banking details on the Ozow page.
That's a better experience and a more reliable one. The customer authenticates with their bank the way they normally do, often biometrically, and the outcome comes back from the bank directly, so you get a definitive answer rather than an inferred one.
| Bank APIs | Bank |
|---|---|
| Absa PayAbsa Pay Absa's own payment method, which the customer authorises in their Absa banking app. It gets its own button at checkout rather than sitting inside the bank list, and it requires Customer Identity Verification.Absa | Absa |
| Capitec PayCapitec Pay Capitec's own payment method. The payer gives a cellphone, account or ID number rather than card details, and approves the payment in the Capitec app, so no card number and no banking login is ever entered at checkout. It gets its own button rather than sitting inside the bank list, and it requires Customer Identity Verification.Capitec | Capitec |
| FNB Payment Requests | FNB and RMB |
| Nedbank Direct EFTNedbank Direct EFT Nedbank's own payment method. Like the other bank APIs it gets its own button at checkout rather than sitting inside the bank list, and it requires Customer Identity Verification.Nedbank | Nedbank |
Customers whose bank doesn't have a direct integration still pay through Pay by Bank, they just sign in through the Ozow payment page instead.
Enabling Pay by Bank
Pay by Bank is enabled by default on your Ozow account. If you're integrated for payinsPayin A payment made by a consumer to a merchant. The direction most of this site is about: money coming in. Its counterpart is a payout, which sends money out and is not tied to any payment anyone made you., you already have it.
The individual bank API methods are enabled separately. Speak to your account manager about which ones you want on your account.
If you operate in a high-risk industry, Customer Identity VerificationCustomer Identity Verification Checking that the payment instrument belongs to the natural person making the payment. Ozow requires it for merchants it has classified as high-risk, on Pay by Bank, Absa Pay, Capitec Pay, Nedbank Direct EFT, FNB Payment Requests and PayShap Request, and can disable those methods where it is not implemented correctly. is mandatory for Pay by Bank and for several of the bank API methods. It changes what you build, so read Customer Identity Verification before you start rather than after.
Things to know
Pay by Bank payments are irrevocable. Once confirmed, the funds are yours. There's no chargeback process, which is the biggest practical difference between Pay by Bank and card. You can still issue a refund; that's your decision, not something a customer can force through their bank.
Your customer needs internet or app banking. A bank account alone isn't enough; they need to be able to authorise a payment digitally.
The experience depends on their bank, not on you. You enable the methods, but which flow a given customer sees is determined by who they bank with. Design your checkout so it reads sensibly either way.
SettlementSettlement Ozow paying the money you have collected into your bank account. Payins arrive at Ozow first and are settled to you on a schedule, so what a customer paid you today and what has been settled to you today are different amounts.. For how and when Pay by Bank payments are settled to you, see Settlements.
Integrating Pay by Bank
Pay by Bank works with every Ozow integration method, and nothing bank-specific is required; it's enabled by default and appears on the Ozow payment page.
Standalone bank buttons. To show your own "Pay with Capitec Pay" or "Pay with Absa Pay"
buttons and send customers straight to that bank, pass the relevant institutionId. Each bank
method has its own.
See Standalone payment
buttons.
Bank icons for those buttons are in Brand assets.
Last updated