In just a few years, South Africa’s payments landscape has undergone a profound transformation. Driven by rapid technological advancement, evolving consumer behaviour, regulatory momentum, and the digital acceleration sparked by the pandemic, payments are no longer operating behind the scenes – they’re shaping how people live, earn, and transact.
Israel Skosana, chief product and scheme officer at BankservAfrica shares why ecosystem collaboration is non-negotiable for shaping the next chapter of payments in South Africa.
From tapping a card at a till to sending money instantly via a mobile wallet, payments have become an essential, visible part of everyday life. More than just infrastructure, they are enablers of access and economic participation – driving innovation, inclusion, and opportunity. Real-time payments are becoming standard. QR codes, tokenisation, and digital wallets are no longer experimental – they’re foundational tools in building a modern, inclusive payments ecosystem.
Yet, as we advance toward the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) Vision 2025, can we truly state that progress has translated into meaningful financial inclusion?
Innovation is reshaping the payments landscape. But in a country where access to financial services remains imbalanced, inclusion must be built in from the start. The future of payments must serve all South Africans – especially those who remain excluded due to limited access to trusted, user-friendly payment channels.
Why access matters
On 3 April 2025, I had the privilege of opening the BankservAfrica Payments Conference in Johannesburg. The opportunity presented an industry forum through which we addressed the critical questions shaping the future of payments in South Africa: are we simplifying payments or adding layers of complexity? Are we designing with people at the centre? And most importantly, are we advancing inclusion… or unintentionally widening the digital divide?
These are not just rhetorical questions. They go to the heart of the next chapter in South Africa’s payments evolution.
Because true financial inclusion goes beyond access to a bank account. It’s about enabling meaningful participation in the financial system – for everyone. It means ensuring a street vendor has the same confidence in accepting and receiving an instant digital payment as a multinational enterprise.
This links with a recurring theme throughout the conference that access alone is not inclusion. There’s been substantial growth in bank account ownership – but that does not necessarily translate into impact. Real inclusion comes from the ability to make secure, affordable and convenient transactions day to day, especially for spaza shop owners and informal traders operating in the thriving township economy, and who are often overlooked. We need to design solutions that are trusted and reflect the lived realities of the people who use them.
Catalysts for change
As an organisation, we are presently sitting at the nexus of infrastructure and innovation. As the continent’s leading payment infrastructure provider, BankservAfrica’s mandate goes beyond building payment rails – it’s about ensuring they are secure, interoperable and inclusive by design.
PayShap is a powerful example of redefining low-value, real-time payments in South Africa. Since its launch, this service has facilitated over R285 billion in transactions. As low-value Real-Time Clearing (RTC) transactions continue to migrate to PayShap – aligned with South Africa’s broader payments modernisation – the significance of this service cannot be overstated.
With the successful introduction of proxy-enabled payments via ShapIDs and ongoing investment by BankservAfrica in its rapid payments infrastructure, the foundation is set for wider adoption to drive the transition to a digital economy. Incoming features, including the broader market launch of PayShap Request and soon-to-be introduced QR code capabilities, will unlock new use cases by extending the service to both person-to-person and person-to-business payments.
Since its early days under the Rapid Payments Programme to the present, PayShap’s success is owed to collaborative innovation which is driven by alignment between banks, regulators and infrastructure partners. With 11 participating banks already on board and soon to welcome mobile network operators, fintechs and retailers to the service, the expanding community reflects strong market support.
This willingness to collaborate is especially evidenced by recent regulatory developments aimed at enabling direct participation in the national payment system by non-banks, as well as the support that banking incumbents have shown in their openness to ‘make space at the table’.
To this end, PayShap is on track to becoming a viable alternative to cash as South Africa’s go-to solution for every day, low-cost digital payments.
But no single organisation can build the future of inclusive and accessible payments alone. Ecosystem collaboration is not optional, it’s non-negotiable. We need regulators who understand innovation, fintechs who respect policy and banks who champion interoperability. We need infrastructure that puts users at the centre.
Crucially, we need to democratise payments – supporting financial inclusion and lowering the barriers to entry for new Payments Service Provider. Encouragingly, these shifts are taking shape, signalling the start of a new era in payments.
Having worked across the full payments value chain – from card issuing and acquiring to fraud prevention and cross-border enablement – I’ve come to believe one simple truth: collective design delivers greater relevance, reach and resilience.
As BankservAfrica marks 53 years of enabling interoperable payments this June and, as the industry stands at a pivotal moment, we look ahead to a future shaped by shared ambition and deep collaboration. The next era of payments must be built together and built for everyone. That is how we will make meaningful progress towards financial inclusion.