Elavon vs Pesapal

Elavon is a card payment processor that gives merchants terminals, gateways and its own tablet point of sale, and it states it carries the security and reliability of U.S. Pesapal is a payments company in East and Southern Africa that offers card and M-Pesa acceptance on POS machines, online payments and business loans. Both are listed under Payment Processing for Food Businesses. Where the profiles show a difference, it is in audience, countries covered and integrations.

Key differences

  • audience

    Audience differs between the profiles. Listed by one product alone: Elavon: Full-service restaurants; Pesapal: Restaurants and cafes in Kenya and East Africa that need M-Pesa and card payments.

  • countries covered

    Elavon names 14 countries and Pesapal names 7 countries. No country appears in every list.

  • integrations

    Elavon names 5 integrations and Pesapal names 9 integrations. 1 partner appears in every list.

  • security and compliance

    The security and compliance details they list differ. Elavon: PCI DSS; Pesapal: PCI DSS, PCI compliant.

Side by side

Elavon vs Pesapal: side-by-side comparison from published vendor information
FieldElavonPesapal
What it isElavon is a card payment processor that gives merchants terminals, gateways and its own tablet point of sale, and it states it carries the security and reliability of U.S.Pesapal is a payments company in East and Southern Africa that offers card and M-Pesa acceptance on POS machines, online payments and business loans.
Best forFull-service restaurants; Quick-service restaurants; Restaurants with an existing POSRestaurants and cafes in Kenya and East Africa that need M-Pesa and card payments; Restaurants, bars and hotels running Oracle Simphony or OPERA; Restaurants that want online ordering with payments
Pricing modelQuote onlyPercentage of sales
Starting priceNot publishedNot published
Free planNot publishedNot published
Free trialNot publishedNot published
ContractNot publishedNot published
PlatformsNot publishedWeb
CountriesBelgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and 8 moreKenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and 1 more
LanguagesNot publishedNot published
Number of integrations59
CertificationsPCI DSSPCI DSS, PCI compliant
Security practicesNot published128-bit SSL in transit and 256-bit AES for stored data, Regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya
FoundedNot published2009
HeadquartersNot publishedNairobi, Kenya
OwnerU.S. Bank (per Elavon's about page)Not published
Last reviewed29 September 202629 September 2026

Integrations

Named by both

  • Oracle Micros

Named only by Elavon

  • Agilysys
  • Appetize
  • NCR
  • Squirrel Systems

Named only by Pesapal

  • Compulynx
  • Fitbit Pay
  • Google Pay
  • Microsoft AMX
  • M-Pesa
  • Oracle Hospitality OPERA
  • Oracle Hospitality Suite8
  • Oracle Simphony/Micros RES

Which to choose

Elavon

Choose Elavon if your business matches one of the audiences it is listed for: Full-service restaurants; Quick-service restaurants; Restaurants with an existing POS.

Pesapal

Choose Pesapal if your business matches one of the audiences it is listed for: Restaurants and cafes in Kenya and East Africa that need M-Pesa and card payments; Restaurants, bars and hotels running Oracle Simphony or OPERA; Restaurants that want online ordering with payments.

What we could not confirm

Elavon

  • Processing rates and POS plan prices
  • Contract term and early termination terms
  • Headquarters, founding year and employee count
  • Which POS plans are sold outside the US
  • Contents of the WorksWith Elavon partner directory

Pesapal

  • Transaction rates, POS terminal prices or subscription fees (not published)
  • Contract term and renewal
  • Founders, funding and ownership
  • Interface languages
  • Restaurant POS integrations beyond the Oracle and named POS systems

Go further

Elavon profilePesapal profile

Other comparisons with these products

Sources

Facts on this page come from the pages below. Prices and features change, so confirm with each vendor before you buy.

Elavon, reviewed 29 September 2026

  1. Home page, copyright entityhttps://www.elavon.com
  2. Restaurant POS overviewhttps://www.elavon.com/industries/restaurants.html
  3. Full-service restaurantshttps://www.elavon.com/industries/restaurants/full-service.html
  4. Quick-service restaurantshttps://www.elavon.com/industries/restaurants/quick-service.html
  5. Pay-at-table and POS partnershttps://www.elavon.com/industries/restaurants/pay-at-table.html
  6. Online ordering paymentshttps://www.elavon.com/industries/restaurants/online-ordering.html
  7. POS plans, featureshttps://www.elavon.com/solutions/accept-payments-in-person/point-of-sale-software-solutions/talech-restaurant.html
  8. Terminalshttps://www.elavon.com/solutions/accept-payments-in-person/smart-terminals.html
  9. Securityhttps://www.elavon.com/solutions/security-and-pci-compliance.html
  10. Surcharge programhttps://www.elavon.com/solutions/payment-optimization/surcharge-program.html
  11. Parent U.S. Bankhttps://www.elavon.com/about-elavon.html
  12. Countrieshttps://www.elavon.com/country-selector.html
  13. Supporthttps://www.elavon.com/support-center/customer-support.html