Account verified, funds received, then rejected 7 months later with money withheld

We app**** to PayFast in September 2025. On 11 September 2025, we received official confirmation that our account had been verified and activated. We began using the account in good faith.

What followed over the next seven months tells a very different story. PayFast sent us merchant onboarding emails, webinar invitations, and newsletters.

On 29 October 2025 we received confirmation that "transactions and portal access are now fully operational." Payments were processed through our account as recently as March 2026. At no point were we told that a separate compliance review was ongoing or that our account could be shut down retroactively.

On 1 April 2026, after seven months of correspondence with multiple representatives, we were told our application was rejected because our business does not meet their risk and compliance parameters. No specific reason was given. The decision was declared final and non-appealable. Our funds are now being withheld. We submitted the requested invoices on 5 April 2026. Every time we have asked for a clear timeline on the release of our funds, we have received the same vague response: that the matter has been escalated, that they are reviewing with urgency, and that we should allow more time. No date has ever been provided.

This pattern of non-answers has repeated across multiple representatives and multiple weeks.

We engaged in complete good faith throughout this process. Withholding our funds indefinitely while offering no concrete timeline is unacceptable. We are asking PayFast to release our funds immediately and provide a confirmed transfer date.