Standard Bank Processes R164 Trillion in Payments, Cementing Dominance in African Financial Systems
The ability to move payments efficiently, reliably and securely across the continent makes a critical contribution to driving Africa’s economic growth.
Standard Bank processed one of the largest payment volumes on the African continent, moving more than R164 trillion in payments in 2025, across its 20 million clients and correspondent‑banking relationships. This scale means that every single minute, over R300 million flows through the bank’s infrastructure. This highlights Standard Bank’s central role in the financial circulatory system of Africa, powering liquidity, commerce, trade and everyday client activity across multiple markets.
The ability to move payments across the continent is a strategic capability. Last year alone, Standard Bank processed 2.3 billion individual payments, reflecting a 9% year‑on‑year increase, driven by expanding electronic channels, stronger merchant acquiring, and the adoption of new forms of instant and embedded payments across markets.
Cross‑border payment flows also grew by 12%, with the bank holding a 31% market share in South Africa and 17% across its broader footprint, reinforcing its position as the continent’s largest transactional franchise.
“Our payments ecosystem operates at a scale few institutions can match. Moving R164 trillion a year requires resilience, sophistication and constant innovation. Payments are not simply transactions for us, they act as the core engine of our client engagement and the foundation of our broader platform strategy across Africa. Behind these numbers is a deliberate, integrated payments strategy that spans traditional rails, such as domestic electronic payments, card issuing, merchant acquiring, cash and collections, as well as emerging rails, including embedded payments, immediate payments, digital asset‑enabled cross‑border flows and next‑generation settlement technologies.”
– Margaret Nienaber, Group COO, Standard Bank
Across Africa, payment systems are modernising rapidly due to regulatory reform, digital adoption and increased competition. Standard Bank has built payment layers that integrate multiple rails while ensuring seamless client experience, capital‑light revenue, liquidity enhancement, and deeper data insights across all business units. In doing so, the bank differentiates itself not only through infrastructure, but through intelligence and reach, enabling faster, smarter and more secure movement of value.
In domestic markets, Standard Bank continues to strengthen its day‑to‑day transactional backbone. The adoption of fast, low-cost payments is clear, with immediate payment options currently available in 13 of our markets across the continent. Immediate payments in South Africa grew 37% year‑on‑year. The bank’s merchant acquiring business also grew, with SimplyBlu achieving a 19% increase in new merchant sales, supporting SMEs and larger enterprises in digitising their payment acceptance.
In East Africa, the bank’s wallet and agency banking ecosystems have expanded meaningfully, with Uganda’s FlexiPay driving R7 billion in mobile‑money transaction value in 2025 and posting 99% year‑on‑year growth. This domestic footprint is core to establishing client primacy, defending deposits, and reinforcing the bank’s relevance in daily economic activity.
Cross‑border payments, historically slow and expensive across many African corridors, have also undergone step‑changes. Standard Bank became the first African bank to plug clients directly into the Africa‑Asia payment corridor via CIPS, processing R9.5 billion since launch late last year. This capability brings faster and cheaper settlement into a region representing some of Africa’s largest trading partners. Additionally, the bank has introduced a new solution for global remitters. Launched in 2025, and now live in four markets, the product enables seamless last‑mile distribution of inbound remittances which is a critical income stream for millions of households across Africa. The bank aims to broaden corridor optionality through its offerings, ensuring clients have choice and resilience regardless of global volatility.
With significant advances in digital assets globally, the bank has partnered to support local issuers with the ZARU, a rand-denominated stablecoin with a custody reserve solution in 2025. This is part of the bank’s positioning to support digital asset service providers and capture new value pools in tokenised deposits, stablecoins and digital asset-based settlement. Our Aroko blockchain‑enabled cross‑border rail, operated by the Corporate and Investment Banking division, has processed more than R1 trillion in flows, providing a unique solution for automating recurring variable cross-border settlements. Standard Bank is building secure on‑and off‑ramps that will protect deposits, maintain regulatory compliance and allow clients to safely access next‑generation custody and payment technologies.
The ability to move payments efficiently, reliably and securely across the continent makes a critical contribution to driving Africa’s economic growth. It facilitates the movement of value, money and goods, and supports the livelihood of families and businesses.
“Our ambition is to support both intra-Africa and Africa-to-the-world connectivity through trusted, seamless and modern payment services. Whether it’s real‑time domestic transfers, multi‑rail cross‑border payments or blockchain‑enabled settlement, our approach is consistent: build secure rails, create client value, and scale intelligently across markets. The bank’s payments vision provides a roadmap anchored in three pillars: domestic dominance, cross‑border diversification, and digital‑asset evolution.”
– Margaret Nienaber, Group COO, Standard Bank
