Big changes coming for payments in South Africa

• The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) will assume direct control over the management of the national payment system, replacing the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) as the payment system management body.
• The changes aim to modernise the national payment system, enhancing its safety, resilience, and capacity to adapt to innovation, and will involve the transfer of regulatory and oversight functions from PASA to the SARB and PayInc.
• The transition is expected to be seamless, with card payments, electronic funds transfers, and other payment services proceeding as usual, and stakeholders will continue to have opportunities to engage with the SARB on payment system matters.