As technology evolves and payment infrastructure matures, Jacobs said customers should not have to think twice about moving their own money because of transaction fees.
Three years after the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) launched PayShap the country’s real-time rapid payment program (RPP) the underlying technology is working seamlessly. Designed to minimize reliance on physical cash especially within the informal economy and lower-income demographics, PayShap lets consumers execute instant interbank transfers using a linked cellphone number (ShapID).
However, a major structural debate has emerged despite the platform’s stability, South African consumers are still facing highly fragmented transaction fees to move their own money, prompting questions about whether these persistent charges are still justified.
While digital payment advocates argue that instant clearing should be treated as a baseline utility, South Africa’s banking sector remains starkly divided on pricing. The cost structure of a PayShap transaction varies drastically depending on where a customer banks.
GoTyme Bank stands out as the only major institution offering PayShap transactions entirely free across all supported transaction tiers. GoTyme’s CEO Cheslyn Jacobs argues that instant settlement is a standard feature of modern banking rather than a premium add-on comparing the ideal state of PayShap to highly successful, fee-free real-time rails like Brazil’s Pix or India’s UPI.
Traditional heavyweights have adopted diverse pricing models. Capitec and Standard Bank charge a flat fee of roughly R2 (~$0.11), while FNB structures its fees between R3 and R5.
Discovery Bank charges up to 0.5% of the total transaction value (capped at R35), while Nedbank waives fees if money is sent to a mobile number (ShapID) but slaps a flat R10 charge on transfers routed directly to a standard account number.
Traditional financial institutions defend these transaction fees by citing the high overhead required to run, secure, and maintain real-time networks. From the banks’ perspective, the fees help offset critical operational demands.
Transitioning from slow, batch-processed electronic fund transfers (EFTs) to an always-on 24/7 instant clearing model requires heavy capital expenditure on server capacity, cloud databases and database redundancy.
Because instant payments clear and settle within 60 seconds banks have no margin for error or delayed manual reviews. This requires deploying real-time algorithmic threat detection, biometric authentication layers and robust AML filters to prevent immediate, irreversible asset drain.
Transactional fees remain a vital component of non-interest income for South African retail banks. Shifting to an entirely free model risks removing a reliable revenue stream at a time when traditional margins are under pressure.
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Ultimately, while a R2 or R5 fee appears negligible on paper, digital analysts warn that cumulative transaction fees act as a psychological barrier for micro-merchants and low-income earners who execute multiple small-value transactions daily. If South Africa wants to transition into a truly cashless society, the industry must bridge the gap between recovering operational overhead and providing friction-free digital financial access.
