South Africa’s financial sector has introduced PayShap, a real time payments system developed through a multi year collaboration between BankservAfrica, a national payments clearing utility, and the Payments Association of South Africa, the industry body that coordinates payment system participants under the oversight of the South African Reserve Bank.
The system forms part of a broader modernization effort aimed at shifting low value payments away from cash and traditional card rails toward instant account to account transfers. PayShap enables users to send funds directly between participating banks in near real time, including transactions initiated using a mobile number rather than full banking details.
The design of the system reflects policy work that began in 2017, when BankservAfrica and PASA commissioned research with Lipis Advisors on the structure of South Africa’s low value payments environment. That work examined how electronic payment systems could support broader financial inclusion by reducing friction in everyday transactions. The development process also included comparative studies of countries in Southeast Asia that had moved from cash intensive economies toward digital payment systems, according to the industry participants.
“Over the past years, the payments industry has had to act fast to adapt to the evolving landscape of real-time, faster payments for consumers in mobile-first digital economies. Locally, the urgency is for the country’s payments infrastructure to be ready and equipped for the future, and serve every South African, including the financially excluded, to stimulate inclusive growth. All of these have played a role in initiating the collaboration needed for change,” explains Mpho Sadiki, Head of Real-time Payments at BankservAfrica.
PayShap is aligned with the South African Reserve Bank’s Vision 2025 programme, which sets out objectives for a modernised national payment system that can support wider participation in the formal economy. The system introduces a daily transaction limit of 3000 rand and is designed to support instant settlement between banks that have integrated into the platform.
The initial rollout includes two core functions. The first is an instant account transfer service that allows payments between bank accounts using standard account identifiers. The second is a proxy based payment option, known as ShapID, which links a mobile number to a bank account to enable transfers without requiring disclosure of account details. A third feature, request to pay, is planned for a later phase and will allow users to initiate payment requests that can be accepted and settled immediately.
Industry stakeholders involved in the programme describe PayShap as part of a broader shift in payment infrastructure toward interoperability and faster settlement cycles. Ghita Erling, chief executive officer of PASA, said the system provides a structural foundation for reducing dependence on cash while expanding access to digital payments.
“Safe and efficient payment systems are the life blood of the economy. We believe we have, as an industry, created a foundation for modernising South African payments, which can also give all South Africans an alternative to using cash,” says Ghita Erling, CEO of PASA.
International consulting input was provided through PwC South Africa, which supported programme management and implementation planning. PwC noted that more than 60 instant payment systems are already operating globally, positioning South Africa within an established category of real time retail payment networks that are being adopted in multiple regions.
“There are over 60 instant payment deployments globally and it is great to see South Africa in the fold. This is indeed a milestone for the industry and the culmination of the collaboration effort from across multiple organisations to solve a very important problem for the country. These instant payment transformations support economic growth, innovation, enhance customer experience, as well as encourage competition across the payment ecosystem. The potential opportunity for South Africa is phenomenal and it will be very interesting to observe how the market forces now drive the adoption and how PayShap is further enhanced to support the market demand,” says Chantal Maritz, PwC South Africa Payments Transformation Lead.
At launch, PayShap is available through Absa, First National Bank, Nedbank and Standard Bank, with additional banks expected to connect as integration expands. Ten banks participated in the design and implementation phase of the system, which has been in development since 2019 under a coordinated industry programme structure led by BankservAfrica in partnership with PASA and the South African Reserve Bank.
