Fintech and retail collaborations propel PayShap's growth in South Africa, aiming to intensify instant transactions.
South Africa's PayShap Gains Momentum with New Partnerships and Future Expansion
In March 2023, BankservAfrica launched PayShap, a rapid payments platform designed to enable real-time, low-cost digital payments using proxy identifiers (ShapIDs) linked to users' bank accounts. Despite a slower-than-expected adoption, the platform has registered approximately 4.5 million ShapIDs, representing about 8% of South Africa's adult population, and has shown significant growth in transaction volumes since its launch.
One of the key factors contributing to PayShap's success is a shared commitment to innovation and industry-wide collaboration. Notable participants include African Bank, Capitec, Discovery, FNB, Investec, Nedbank, Standard Bank, TymeBank, and more, with other banks expected to introduce this capability later this year.
Ozow, a South African payments platform, has announced the inclusion of PayShap Request, a feature that allows the Payee to initiate real-time, interbank payment requests. This service, extended from the original PayShap, offers a convenient and simple way for merchants to initiate and receive real-time payments without requiring card details or banking credentials.
Israel Skosana, Chief Product and Scheme Officer at BankservAfrica, expressed excitement about the use of PayShap Request by fintechs. He also welcomed the opportunity to forge new partnerships with licensed participants to unlock more opportunities for real-time payments access and financial inclusion.
PayShap's expansion is not limited to banks. The PayShap community is growing through partnerships with banks, fintechs, mobile network operators, and retailers. These partnerships aim to broaden access to the PayShap service and accelerate its adoption.
One of the challenges facing PayShap is that it lags behind comparable systems like India’s UPI and Brazil’s Pix, which feature QR code payments, near-zero transaction costs, and strong government digital literacy campaigns. However, PayShap is addressing this issue by planning to roll out QR code payment functionality in early 2026.
The South African Reserve Bank is also developing a national payments utility (NPU) aimed at further lowering costs and broadening interoperability across banks, wallets, and payment types, which will indirectly enhance PayShap’s ecosystem.
In summary, PayShap is growing and gaining partners, but its mainstream adoption faces hurdles from fees and feature gaps compared to global peers. The rollout of QR codes in early 2026 and continued fintech and retail partnerships are key to expanding its reach and usability in South Africa’s payments landscape. BankservAfrica remains focused on progress, building on the momentum with 12 participating banks onboard and forging new partnerships. The PayShap Request service supports South Africa's growing digital economy.
- The PayShap community is growing through partnerships with banks, fintechs, mobile network operators, and retailers, aiming to broaden access to the PayShap service and accelerate its adoption.
- PayShap is addressing the issue of lagging behind global peers by planning to roll out QR code payment functionality in early 2026.
- The South African Reserve Bank's development of a national payments utility (NPU) aims to further lower costs and broaden interoperability across banks, wallets, and payment types, indirectly enhancing PayShap's ecosystem, thereby supporting South Africa's growing digital economy.
