Understanding Charges
Bank statements may show Paystack as the merchant. That is normal — Paystack is PayBru's payment processor.
This page explains the line items you'll see on a PayBru receipt and bank statement, in plain South African terms.
Receipt Line Items
A typical receipt shows:
| Line item | What it is |
|---|---|
| Item / membership fee | The price of the tier, tip, store item, gift, or other purchase, as set by the creator. |
| Platform fee | PayBru's standard 5% fee, deducted from the creator's earnings (not added on top of your charge). |
| Gateway fee | Paystack's local card fee, deducted from the creator's earnings. For South African local cards this is currently 2.9% + R1.00, excluding VAT. |
| Total paid | The final amount charged to your card. This is the only amount that comes off your bank balance. |
The Item Price Is What You Pay
The headline price on the creator's page is the full amount that comes off your card. The platform fee and gateway fee shown on receipts are deducted from the creator's side — they don't add anything to what you're charged.
So if a tier is R100, you're charged R100. The receipt then explains how that R100 was split between the creator, PayBru, and Paystack.
VAT in Plain Terms
There are two different VAT topics that often get confused:
- VAT on the Paystack gateway fee. Paystack charges VAT on its processing fee in South Africa. PayBru keeps the receipt simple by showing the gateway fee as a single line, rather than breaking gateway VAT out separately.
- VAT on the creator's own product. Whether the creator must charge VAT on their own tier/store/event prices depends on whether the creator is registered for VAT with SARS. PayBru doesn't automatically add output VAT to creator prices — VAT-registered creators should price accordingly and may need to issue their own tax invoices outside PayBru.
PayBru receipts and monthly statements are designed as clear proof of payment, not as SARS-compliant tax invoices for the creator's supply. If you need a formal tax invoice for the goods or services the creator provided, contact the creator directly.
A Worked Example
For a R100 membership payment on a local Visa or Mastercard:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| You pay | R100.00 |
| PayBru platform fee (5%) | −R5.00 (from creator) |
| Paystack gateway fee (2.9% + R1.00, excluding VAT) | −R3.90 (from creator) |
| VAT on gateway fee | −R0.59 (from creator) |
| Creator receives (approximate) | R90.51 |
Exact amounts may vary by a few cents because of rounding or any active discounts.
If a Charge Looks Wrong
- Check your active memberships under My Activity > My Memberships to see which creators you're subscribed to and at what tier.
- Review your payment history under My Activity > My Payments to match the charge date with a specific transaction.
- Compare the receipt amount to the tier price on the creator's page (and check whether they recently changed the price — existing members keep the price they signed up at).
- If the charge still doesn't make sense, contact PayBru support with the receipt number and they'll investigate.
Bank statements may show Paystack as the merchant name rather than PayBru — that's normal.