Cross Switch Adds Absa Pay Checkout Option for South African Online Merchants

In short

Cross Switch has integrated Absa Pay for merchants in South Africa.

The new option lets customers authenticate, meaning confirm the payment directly with their bank, during online checkout.

What happened

Cross Switch said it is now live with Absa Pay for South African merchants using its platform.

When a shopper selects Absa Pay at checkout, they are routed to a secure Absa environment. They authenticate the transaction with the bank and then return to the merchant’s checkout to complete the purchase.

This flow is similar to 3D Secure in card payments, where the bank asks the customer to approve a purchase, but it is positioned as a bank-authenticated option tied to Absa’s channels.

Why it matters

For merchants, bank-authenticated payments can reduce fraud and chargebacks, which are payment reversals after a dispute.

It can also improve approval rates for some shoppers, since the bank is actively confirming the transaction rather than relying only on merchant-side checks.

For the market, the move adds another mainstream, bank-led payment method into South Africa’s online checkout mix. That gives merchants more ways to convert customers who prefer paying through their bank rather than entering card details.

It also signals continued competition around checkout, where payment providers are trying to win merchants by combining multiple rails, meaning different ways to move money, into a single integration.

Source: ITnewsafrica