Short version: PayKato is not a payment gateway. We sit on top of licensed gateways and banks, giving merchants an Africa-friendly product layer and a single dashboard.
A payment gateway (or acquirer / processor) is the licensed entity that actually moves money. It connects to card networks and banks, applies risk rules, and settles funds. Examples include large international processors and regional African processors.
Gateways are regulated, capital-intensive businesses. Most are not optimised for an African freelancer issuing five invoices a month.
PayKato is software — onboarding, payment links, invoices, dashboard, reconciliation, merchant verification, and partner routing. The actual movement of money is performed by licensed payment and banking partners that PayKato integrates with.
This is sometimes called payment orchestration. It means you get a single account and product surface, while the regulated work happens behind the scenes.
You don't need to negotiate processor contracts in multiple countries. You don't need to maintain integrations to several APIs. You get one PayKato account, one dashboard, and one support channel, with partner-led processing under the hood.
See PayKato in action
Create an account and explore the merchant dashboard.
PayKato is built to integrate with licensed payment processors and banking partners. Specific processors and availability are confirmed during onboarding based on country, merchant category, and partner approval. PayKato is not a bank and does not hold customer funds.