Credit card processing in Africa is a challenge to e-commerce growth.

During this time and age, its a pity that huge industry players like paypal and authorize.net still have high restrictions for e-traders and online stores based in African countries. Apart from a few countries, most of Africa is restricted to 2nd class payment processing who look like risky to deal with hence loss of business and trust from potential customers.

There are a few though that I have seen that quite translate to real business and are professionally setup and with standards even higher than paypal. Some of these even let you accept paypal on your site!

I particularly love 2checkout, accepts all major cards with very secure verification and fraud prevention. The range of allowed products is also quite big. There are a few integration issues that require a technical experience in web programming.

I came accross AlertPay, also easy to configure, allows merchants from all over Africa, with direct bank account withdrawal of your funds and easy terms. Though its rules are quite loose as compared to its competitors, its the choice for Africa. Works 100% as paypal, with email payments and pay now buttons. Accepts all major cards and funds are processed in real-time.

I leave a challenge to the banks and developers in Africa, why are we taking this money from our poor economies to the west? Think and let us grow our e-commerce industry. Come on, leave a comment here if you have any challenges or ideas for this growth.