Guides · Online giving
Online giving, on your church's own account.
Donations settle directly to your church, Church Flow adds no platform fee on top, and what the rails cost is printed below, in Rand, checked, not guessed.
The short version
Six things your finance team will ask first.
- Church Flow adds no platform fee on donations. You pay only your payment provider's standard rates.
- The account belongs to your church. Donations settle directly to your church's bank account, and Church Flow never holds the money.
- Paystack is the provider Church Flow connects to today, so its published South African rates below are the full cost picture.
- Local cards cost 2.9% plus R1 per transaction, excluding VAT, with the R1 waived on gifts under R10. Capitec Pay and Ozow EFT gifts cost a flat 2%, the cheapest way to give.
- Settlement takes two working days. Sunday's giving is in the bank midweek.
- There is nothing to buy on the payments side: no setup, monthly or integration fees, and payouts are free.
Rates as published by Paystack for South Africa, checked 13 August 2026, excluding VAT. Confirm current rates with Paystack before you budget.
The fees
What the rails cost, channel by channel.
Local cards
2.9% + R1
Per transaction, excluding VAT. The R1 is waived on transactions under R10, so small gifts are not eaten by flat fees.
Capitec Pay & Ozow EFT
2%, no flat fee
The cheapest channel. A congregation nudged towards EFT keeps almost a full extra percent of every gift.
International cards
3.1% + R1
Members abroad can give with their local card. International transactions are charged and settled in Rand by default, so your books stay in one currency.
Everything else
R0
No setup fee, no monthly fee, no integration fee, and payouts to your bank account are free. Church Flow's platform fee on donations: also R0. The rates above are the whole story.
The maths
What a R100 gift puts in the bank.
By local card
About R95.50
The fee is R3.90 (2.9% plus R1), plus 15% VAT on the fee. Two working days later it is in your account.
By Capitec Pay or Ozow
About R97.70
The fee is R2 flat, plus VAT on the fee. Same two-working-day settlement, more of the gift kept for ministry.
That difference compounds. Across a year of giving, the gap between card and EFT rates is a real budget line, worth knowing before you decide how to invite giving. Whatever the channel, Church Flow adds nothing on top.
Setup
From nothing to online giving in three steps.
01
Register with Paystack
Create your church's own Paystack account and work through their verification. It costs nothing: no setup fee, no monthly fee.
02
Connect it to Church Flow
Connect your church's own Paystack account once. Donations settle directly to your bank account, Church Flow never holds the money, and we add no platform fee on top of your provider's standard rates.
03
Let the books keep themselves
Gifts land against person records, payouts reconcile against gifts, and year-end statements generate per donor from the same numbers. Text-to-give and thank-you automations come along for free.
Common questions.
No, never. Congregational giving runs through your church's own Paystack account, so donations settle directly to your church. Church Flow adds no platform fee on donations; you pay only your payment provider's standard rates.
Paystack's published settlement schedule for South Africa is two working days. Their own example: payments received on Monday are settled on Wednesday. Rates and schedules as published by Paystack, checked August 2026.
On a local card, Paystack's fee is 2.9% plus R1, so R3.90 plus VAT on the fee, and about R95.50 reaches your account. Through Capitec Pay or Ozow EFT the fee is a flat 2%, so R2 plus VAT, and about R97.70 reaches your account. Figures per Paystack's published South Africa pricing, checked August 2026.
They belong in the same books. Church Flow counts cash and card-machine offerings in batches with an audit trail, and the totals land in the same reports as online giving, so month-end stays one set of numbers.
Generosity deserves good plumbing.
Your workspace is live in minutes. Connect giving when your finance team is ready.
Start your 30-day free trial →