As the Reserve Bank looks to digitalising payments, it also aims to the system more inclusive for all users.
Governor Lesetja Kganyago, yesterday told delegates to the South African Reserve Bank’s Payments Conference 2026 that the institution aims to make the payments regime more open, more connected and more inclusive.
It is doing this through four initiatives: opening the payment system to non-banks, deepening the use of PayShap, improving interoperability with QR codes; and developing a single digital ID for payments.
Opening up the payment system
Kganyago points out that banks are no longer the only players in the payments system.
While banks are subject to rigorous controls and regulations, he says many payment organisations don’t need to be treated the same way – hence the proposed new Exemption Notice and Authorisation Framework.
“Our objective is to replace an indirect, institution-based route into payments with a clearer activity-based pathway,” Kganyago says. “Appropriately regulated non-bank institutions would be able to perform specified payment activities. They would still be subject to requirements for governance, safeguarding of customer funds, operational resilience and reporting. This reflects the risks they create.
“The principle is straightforward: similar activities and similar risks should receive similar regulatory treatment. Regulation should identify the risks, apply proportionate safeguards and drive innovation in the market. It should neither force every new idea into an old regulatory framework nor protect established business models from competition.
“With regulatory change, we can open up the payment system to new players.”
PayShap and connectedness
Openness creates possibility, but the most important feature of infrastructure is connectedness. Just as with roads or railways, a payment service derives much of its value from the network it can access. South Africa need shared foundations that allow banks, non-banks, government and innovators to build services that work across institutional boundaries.
PayShap, launched in 2023, provides a modern rail for real-time, low-value payments and allows customers to use simpler identifiers rather than relying on bank account details. It has already processed more than 1-billion transactions, with a total value transferred of over R1-trillion.
However, these numbers are small in comparison to the total value of transactions, Kganyago says. “The fact is, PayShap is far from ubiquitous, both for sending money between friends and family, and for buying goods and services.”
He believes it is being held back by four main issues:
Parity. Customers still encounter different transaction limits, functionality and user experiences across participating banks. A national instant-payment service cannot feel like a different product depending on where a customer banks. We need greater consistency in customer experiences, while leaving room for institutions to compete.
Pricing. Institutions have adopted different pricing strategies and the value proposition is not always clear to customers. If PayShap is to compete with other payment methods, especially the most popular, which is cash, it must be simple to understand and affordable to use.
Promotion. Public awareness is still low. Many customers do not know what PayShap is, how to use it or why it may be preferable to existing options.
The acceptance perimeter – the range of places and use cases in which PayShap can be used. PayShap remains strongest for person-to-person transfers; acceptance across the wider network is not yet broad enough. Its economic value will grow when customers can use it not only to send money, but also to pay for goods and services.
“As we advance PayShap, we also need to be careful about the growth of closed-loop systems,” Kganyago says. “This is why the SARB has long taken a position that we will not support the development of separate and independent closed systems.”
Driving inclusion
A well-connected network is also an inclusive one, Kganyago says. “For payments, we can promote inclusion by making digital payments simple and affordable. We want people and businesses to be able to establish their identity without repeated friction. And we would like them to be able to use their own economic records to gain access to a wider range of financial services.”
QR+ is a single digital ID for payments and the responsible use of payments data.
It will help all vendors or business accept digital payments. One interoperable code, displayed by merchants, will allow customers to pay using the service of their choice.
“It is meant to be simple and cheap,” Kganyago says. “Encouragingly, we have a pilot that is about to begin and we look forward to learning from it.”
Proving identity for users is a lengthy and burdensome task, especially if information must be supplied and verified each time.
“A single digital ID for payments is intended to address this,” Kganyago explains. “It enables reusable and verifiable digital credentials that work across the payment ecosystem and that are stored in a wallet controlled by the individual.
“With the customer’s consent and appropriate safeguards, this verified information could be reused to reduce onboarding frictions and support more consistent verification.”
A knock-on benefit will be the ability for people and businesses to use their transaction histories as evidence of economic activity and thus able to access more financial services and credit.
“This should not mean that every transaction automatically becomes a credit score,” Kganyago cautions. “Customers must retain meaningful control over how their information is used. Data must be accurate, relevant and open to correction. Access to essential payment services must not depend on agreeing to unrelated data uses.
“This is not about erasing privacy. It is about helping people who have earned a good reputation but cannot benefit from it because that information is invisible.”
Connecting beyond borders
Currently, international payments remain slower and more expensive than domestic payments, and that this limits remittances, trade and regional integration.
The Reserve Bank has prioritised this, and has moved lower-value retail payments to the Transactions Cleared on an Immediate Basis (TCIB) system.
“This infrastructure is designed for lower-value, real-time regional flows,” Kganyago says. “By the end of April 2027, the plan is to move qualifying payments under R100 000 to TCIB.
“By October 2027, the aim is for TCIB to operate as a hub-and-spoke model across eight pilot countries, allowing participants to connect through a common regional hub rather than relying only on multiple bilateral links.”