South African Reserve Bank Launches Payments Ecosystem Modernisation Programme

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB ) has officially launched its Payments Ecosystem Modernisation (PEM) programme, a strategic initiative aimed at enabling fast, inclusive, affordable, and secure digital payments across the country.

According to Arif Ismail, Head of the National Payment System Department at SARB, the PEM programme will transform South Africa’s payments landscape by driving innovation, competition, efficiency, and financial inclusion.

The initiative will focus on three major areas:

• Upgrading the high-value Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, which underpins the country’s financial transactions and processes the equivalent of South Africa’s GDP every 12 days.

• Expanding and modernising faster payment systems, including real-time clearing and PayShap, to ensure they serve a broader market.

• Introducing a universal digital financial ID, seen as a key enabler of the digital economy.

While the push is towards digitalisation, SARB clarified that the programme is not aimed at eliminating cash. Instead, the bank envisions a “cash-smart society”, where consumers have greater choice in how they transact.

“This does not mean that the SARB is doing away with cash. What we prefer is what we would call a cash-smart society. This means that the consumer has choice. For ordinary South Africans, it would mean that you have greater choice of payment instruments. We’re also hoping that what it would bring is lower costs, faster payments, and greater efficiencies. So for the ordinary person on the street, it should be as easy as sending a text message to someone in order to receive money.”

– Arif Ismail, Head of the National Payment System Department, SARB

SARB emphasised that greater adoption of digital payments could also improve the velocity of money and support the broader economy.