(10 August 2010) Bob Shop. com Inc, a Delaware Company and the parent of bobshop.co.za, Africa's largest online marketplace, has acquired a 33% stake in South African online payment solution, PayFast.

Jaco Jonker, CEO of bobshop.co.za, says that the acquisition is a natural progression for Bob Shop: “Online payments are critical in ecommerce and Bob Shop is committed to growing all aspects of online commerce in South Africa. Online payment solutions are an integral part of any transactional based website," he adds. 

bobshop.co.za is currently ranked among South Africa's top websites, generating more than 27 million monthly page impressions and receiving over one million unique visitors each month. With more than 500,000 registered users and over 70,000 sellers, the turnover produced on this online marketplace exceeds R30 million per month.

According to Jonker, Bob Shop strives to enhance the online trading experience by making it easier, safer and more convenient for buyers and sellers alike. ”PayFast complements the Bob Shop offering by providing a valuable tool for online merchants,” he says.

PayFast (Pty) Ltd operates a South African online payment service through websites payfast.co.za and notifi.co.za. It provides South Africans with an online payment service that makes it safe for buyers to send money and easy for sellers to receive money. PayFast aggregates a number of different payment methods including credit cards, EFT and UKash within one simple payment system.

PayFast’s flagship product is a patented EFT system which gives merchants the ability to accept EFT paymens with the speed and ease of credit cards, but without the risks of charge backs.  PayFast's revenue model is based on a percentage of transaction. Online merchants only pay on a per transaction basis and there are no setup or subscription fees.

According to Managing Director of PayFast Jonathan Smit, about 4000 merchants are currently making use of this online payment service. "This is just the beginning”, says Smit. “We feel that the investment from Bob Shop will not only help us grow our business, but will further boost ecommerce in South Africa, giving online merchants the tools they need to make a success of their businesses. We are very excited about what the future holds for PayFast," continues Smit.

The acquisition of PayFast into the Bob Shop stable will give the two companies the opportunity to drive the common goal of growing the ecommerce industry in South Africa by making it easier and safer for buyers and sellers to transact online. It will also allow PayFast to expand into other African markets in conjunction with Bob Shop’s African expansion plans.