SnapScan vs Yoco

SnapScan

QR payments with no hardware

The payment instrument is a printed code, so there is nothing to buy, nothing to rent and nothing to fail at the counter.

Online checkout

The same account covers ecommerce payments on your website, which keeps one merchant relationship and one settlement stream rather than two.

Local point of sale integrations

Published connections to TallOrder, Pilot POS, EasiPOS, HumbleTill, Lightspeed and others, which are systems you actually meet in South African retail.

Billing integrations

Full integrations with Sage Accounting and with Healthbridge and Nexion for medical practices, so a payment can settle against the right invoice.

Rates that fall with turnover

The standard rate is 2.95 percent excluding VAT and reduces as monthly turnover grows, with custom rates available for larger merchants.

Yoco

Card machines

Handheld readers from R699 and the Yoco Counter at R2 999. Low enough that a small trader can start accepting cards without financing hardware.

Tiered transaction rates

Rates fall as monthly volume rises, from around 2.30 percent down to 1.20 percent in person on the Pro plan for local debit.

No monthly fee on Core

The entry plan costs nothing per month, so a seasonal or low volume business pays only when it actually takes money.

Business tools

Sales reporting, staff accounts and basic stock on the paid plans, enough for a small shop that does not need a full point of sale.

Next day settlement

Funds reach your account quickly, which matters a great deal to a small business managing cash week to week.

SnapScan

What it takes to start

Signing up is free and done online, after which you print the QR code and put it on the counter. There is nothing to install and nothing to configure for the simplest use. Where implementation does exist is in the connections. SnapScan publishes integrations with a long list of point of sale systems used in South African retail and hospitality, and with billing systems including Sage Accounting, so a payment can land against the right invoice rather than needing a manual match. Setting those up is a short piece of work with your point of sale supplier rather than a project, but do it before you go live, because reconciling QR payments by hand every day is how the saving disappears.

When something breaks

Support is local and reachable, and the merchant portal covers the day to day questions about payouts and reconciliation without needing to speak to anyone. Because there is no hardware, the failure modes are narrower than with a card machine. What goes wrong is usually a customer with no data or a payment that needs matching to an invoice, and both are handled in the portal. The thing to establish before committing is who supports the connection between SnapScan and your point of sale, because that link is usually owned by the point of sale supplier rather than by SnapScan.

Yoco

What it takes to start

About as simple as business software gets. You order a machine, verify your identity, connect a bank account and start taking cards, usually within days. There is no implementation. The only real decision is which plan, and that depends on your monthly card turnover rather than on features.

When something breaks

Local support with local hours, and replacement hardware if a machine fails. For a small merchant that combination is the product. If your turnover grows to the point where the rate matters more than the convenience, get a bank acquirer quote and compare, because at that level the relationship changes.

SnapScan

• Nothing to buy and nothing to rent, because the payment instrument is a printed QR code
• South African customers already recognise the code, which removes the explaining at the counter
• The rate falls as monthly turnover grows rather than staying fixed at the headline number
• Integrates with Sage Accounting and a long list of local point of sale systems

• At 2.95 percent excluding VAT it is dearer than a card machine rate for most merchants
• The customer needs a smartphone and a working data connection to pay you at all
• No card machine, so a customer wanting to tap a physical card cannot be served
• Narrow by design, offering payment acceptance rather than any kind of business management

Yoco

• Card machines from R699 and no monthly fee on Core, so a small trader can start immediately
• Rates fall as monthly volume rises, from around 2.30 percent to 1.20 percent in person
• Next day settlement, which matters a great deal to a business managing cash week to week

• Deliberately narrow, so it is card acceptance rather than a full point of sale
• Paying R499 for the Pro rate only pays for itself above a certain monthly turnover
• Large merchants will get a better rate negotiating directly with a bank acquirer

SnapScan

SnapScan is one of the few payment products where the South African consumer side is already solved, because the app has been in circulation here for years and people know the code on sight. That familiarity is the whole argument for it. Signing up is free, there is no monthly fee and no hardware to finance, so a market trader or a small practice can take payment tomorrow. The published integration list is unusually local, covering Sage Accounting for billing and point of sale systems such as TallOrder, Pilot POS and EasiPOS that you actually meet in South African retail. Weigh the 2.95 percent excluding VAT against a card machine rate honestly, because on volume it is the more expensive way to be paid.

Yoco

Yoco exists because traditional South African acquirers would not onboard small merchants without a trading history, and it solved that. Onboarding is quick, the hardware is affordable, and settlement is fast. The decision is arithmetic rather than features. Work out your blended rate at your actual monthly card turnover across the three plans, because the plan fee only makes sense above a certain volume. Once your monthly card turnover becomes substantial, get a quote from a bank acquirer and compare properly, because at that point the rate difference outweighs the convenience.

SnapScan

Excellent as a second way to be paid, and often the only one a market trader or a small practice needs. If cards are the main way your customers pay you, price a card machine properly before settling on this as the primary method.

Yoco

The sensible default for small South African merchants taking cards. Once monthly card turnover becomes substantial, get a quote from a bank acquirer and compare properly.