PayShap – South Africa’s first rapid payments programme launched
Ashlin Perumall, Partner, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg
In March 2023, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) announced the launch of PayShap, a real-time rapid payment platform that is aimed at offering safer, faster and significantly more convenient payment options for South Africans.
PayShap is the outcome of an industry-spanning collaboration, driven by BankservAfrica, the Payments Association of South Africa and the South African banking community, with the aim of modernizing the national payments industry. It is rooted in the SARB's Rapid Payments Program, as part of its Vision 2025 strategy to reform the South African national payment system framework.
The SARB has noted that PayShap will ultimately offer a cost-effective, instant payment service across banks, a proxy service to emb...