The South African Reserve Bank and other stakeholders, including the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa, want to eliminate cash and move to safer digital payment methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cash still reigns supreme in South Africa. BankservAfrica recently said nine out of ten transactions in South Africa are still made in cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It further revealed that 95% of informal small business customers and 63% of formal business customers opt to pay in cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This data is substantiated by feedback from many of South Africa\u2019s largest retailers, including Mr Price and Pepkor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
89% of Mr Price\u2019s sales for its 2024 financial year were conducted in cash. The retailer\u2019s cash transactions grew by 18.3% over the financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pepkor said its cash sales increased by 5.6% in the year through September 2023, and 90% of sales are generated in cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These figures show that despite numerous digital payment alternatives, most South Africans still rely on cash to transact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a headache for the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), which is trying to make the country\u2019s economy cashless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said South Africans are over-reliant on physical cash and should transition to safer payment methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part of the plan is modernising the national payment system and educating people on the benefits of digital payment channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Reserve Bank\u2019s Digital Payments Roadmap<\/a><\/strong> showed that almost half of South African adults withdraw all their money from their bank accounts as soon as it is deposited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reasons for this include a lack of trust in banks, fees associated with card transactions, and merchants\u2019 lack of acceptance of cards in the informal economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pick n Pay chairman and Consumer Goods Council of South Africa co-chairman Gareth Ackerman said this needs to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ackerman said moving away from cash should mean that consumers should have more money to spend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As such, he urged the government to launch a universal payment platform to eliminate the use of physical currency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PayShap offers an alternative to cash<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of the initiative to move away from cash, the Reserve Bank partnered with BankservAfrica to launch PayShap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PayShap is a real-time, low-value, interbank digital payments service. It is already available through Absa, Nedbank, Standard Bank, FNB, Capitec, and Discovery Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n