Latest news with #PayShap
Zawya
4 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
South Africa: Ozow's PayShap Request gains traction, driving rapid growth in instant payments
Since its introduction in December 2024, Ozow's PayShap Request has already processed over R100bn across 136 million transactions, with more than 4.5 million ShapIDs registered. As demand for instant, secure digital payments grows, the PayShap ecosystem ensures that merchants can immediately tap into this fast-expanding network, without requiring customers to pre-register a ShapID. "We are incredibly proud to be at the forefront of enabling PayShap Request for South African merchants," said Rachel Cowan, interim chief executive officer of Ozow. Ozow's PayShap Request drives digital adoption and positions the fintech in line with the South African Reserve Bank's vision of payment modernisation and financial inclusion in the country. Offering a fast, secure, and user-centric solution that supports the goals of Payments Ecosystem Modernisation (PEM), the Ozow experience caters for those who have a ShapID registered at their bank while those who don't, can use their account number to complete the payment. No app, card, or login required. "Ozow truly demonstrates our commitment to innovation and our dedication to providing businesses with the most efficient and user-friendly payment solutions. By being among the first to bring PayShap Request to a live environment, we are not only offering a significant competitive edge to our merchants but are also helping deliver on the Sarb's mandate for a modern, inclusive payments future,' said Cowan. Alignment with Sarb's vision Ozow's decisive step in enabling PayShap Request in a live environment, directly supports the Sarb's broader mandate to modernise South Africa's payments ecosystem and drive digital adoption, with PayShap being a central enabler of accessibility and inclusion. Ozow's commitment to these values is embedded in its strategic approach, reflecting the collaborative efforts required by various parties within this space. Through these efforts, Ozow has launched a digital payment product that leverages the PayShap rails and Ozow's technology and user experience to deliver an intuitive, user-friendly payment experience. Source: Supplied. Enhanced customer accessibility A key differentiator of Ozow's PayShap Request offering is its unparalleled customer convenience. Customers are not required to have a pre-registered ShapID to complete a payment. If a customer has not registered a ShapID (a registered phone number linked to their bank account), they can simply use their bank account number to transact, significantly reducing friction and improving accessibility for a wider range of consumers. Customers simply select PayShap at checkout, choose their bank, enter their phone number or account number, and follow the prompts to authenticate the payment in their banking app. This feature is particularly crucial in a market focused on bringing more individuals into the digital economy and aligns with the Sarb's drive for greater financial inclusion. Ecosystem collaboration PayShap is powered by BankservAfrica and supported by South Africa's banks under the Rapid Payments Programme, ensuring continued scale, enhanced security, and stability. Ozow's history of successful collaborations (including its work with Absa Pay to co-develop a seamless bank API) highlights the company's ability to deliver best-in-class digital experiences. This partnership has since become a blueprint now accessible to all Payment Service Providers (PSPs). Key benefits for merchants and consumers: Instant payments: Merchants can get paid in real-time, significantly improving cash flow and speeding up service delivery. Customer convenience: Customers can make instant payments using just their mobile number or bank account number. Access to new customers: With over 4.5 million ShapIDs registered, PayShap opens access to digitally hesitant and risk-averse consumers, expanding the potential customer base for merchants. Secure and irrevocable: Every PayShap payment is authenticated directly via the customer's banking app, with built-in fraud-prevention mechanisms, ensuring secure and irrevocable transactions. Direct refunds: Merchants can easily process refunds directly into a customer's bank account. No extra set-up required: Merchants already integrated with Ozow can enable PayShap Request with no additional development needed, ensuring a seamless transition and immediate benefits. 'Account-to-account payments have been central to Ozow's model from the start, and with PayShap enabling deeper integration between banks and fintechs, we're one step closer to a more interoperable payment ecosystem,' said Cowan. All rights reserved. © 2022. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
The Herald
05-07-2025
- Business
- The Herald
From cash to code: SA's payments shift
SA is at a pivotal point in the evolution of its payments landscape. We pioneered real-time clearing in 2006, have a strong, regulated banking system and a growing fintech ecosystem tackling local and global transaction challenges. Yet, we've fallen behind. The SA Reserve Bank estimates that 55% of transactions still use cash, most likely excluding the informal economy. This is due to poverty, low-value transactions, mistrust in the system, lack of convenience and affordability issues. There is progress: the launch of PayShap, enabling real-time, low-value interbank payments, aims to reduce cash reliance and improve convenience. In this issue of Payments, we explore how this shift is reshaping the digital payments space for businesses and consumers. We also examine ways to reduce friction in the ecosystem, the role of Bitcoin in financial inclusion and the ESG impact of payments innovation. Looking continentwide, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System is tackling the long-standing issues of high costs and currency complexities in cross-border trade, vital for economic resilience. Other developments include innovations in offline payments to address limited internet access, improvements in contactless experiences, faster payments for gig workers and earned wage access systems supporting lower-income earners and promoting financial literacy. Customer experience is central, especially with the rise of super apps, hugely successful in Asia and gaining traction here. Much of this progress is driven by fintechs. We profile three standout players in this issue, proof that while challenges remain, meaningful progress is being made.
TimesLIVE
04-07-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
From cash to code: SA's payments shift
SA is at a pivotal point in the evolution of its payments landscape. We pioneered real-time clearing in 2006, have a strong, regulated banking system and a growing fintech ecosystem tackling local and global transaction challenges. Yet, we've fallen behind. The SA Reserve Bank estimates that 55% of transactions still use cash, most likely excluding the informal economy. This is due to poverty, low-value transactions, mistrust in the system, lack of convenience and affordability issues. There is progress: the launch of PayShap, enabling real-time, low-value interbank payments, aims to reduce cash reliance and improve convenience. In this issue of Payments, we explore how this shift is reshaping the digital payments space for businesses and consumers. We also examine ways to reduce friction in the ecosystem, the role of Bitcoin in financial inclusion and the ESG impact of payments innovation. Looking continentwide, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System is tackling the long-standing issues of high costs and currency complexities in cross-border trade, vital for economic resilience. Other developments include innovations in offline payments to address limited internet access, improvements in contactless experiences, faster payments for gig workers and earned wage access systems supporting lower-income earners and promoting financial literacy. Customer experience is central, especially with the rise of super apps, hugely successful in Asia and gaining traction here. Much of this progress is driven by fintechs. We profile three standout players in this issue, proof that while challenges remain, meaningful progress is being made.
The Citizen
11-06-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Economic activity picked up for the first time in 8 months in May
It is good news, but there are still many risks that could bring the economic activity down again. Economic transactions picked up in May for the first time in eight months, bringing some relief after months of stagnation. A part of May's improvement stems from wiping out the weakness evident in the index in April. According to the BankservAfrica Economic Transactions Index (BETI), which measures the value of all electronic transactions cleared through BankservAfrica on a monthly basis at seasonally adjusted real prices, economic activity rebounded in May, although it is too early to tell if this positive trend will hold. Shergeran Naidoo, head of stakeholder engagements at BankservAfrica, says the BETI improved to an index level of 138.3 in May, up from the 136.2 recorded in April, breaking an eight-month trend of sideways movement. Despite the shift, notable risks remain, and more evidence of sustained higher economic activity must be delivered before the narrative of a subdued growth environment can change. 'The number of transactions cleared through BankservAfrica in May reached an all-time high of 176.3 million compared to 167.9 million in April, surpassing the previous record of 172.4 million in March 2025.' ALSO READ: Economic activity in SA struggling to gain momentum Too early to call a change in the trend for economic activity Elize Kruger, an independent economist, says while the latest figure is encouraging, it is too early to call an imminent change in trend as the economic environment has not changed materially in May, and notable risks remain. 'In addition, the recovery in economic activity in May followed the month of April when the world was hit by the US announcement of punitive import tariffs, and subsequently an evolving trade war developed with a great deal of volatility from day to day as markets plummeted and global and local growth forecasts were slashed. 'Confidence levels across the globe and in South Africa were knocked by the sheer uncertainty that these developments brought. 'However, with some tariffs put on ice and several countries entering, more favourable trade agreements, averting a worst-case scenario. Markets responded with relief rallies and a cautious return of confidence, albeit from a low base.' However, she says, the BETI is still 1.4% higher, and the uptick remains encouraging as all of its components increased in value terms during May. 'The most notable performances were the heavily weighted EFT credits, Real Time Clearing and PayShap transactions. 'The standardised nominal value of transactions also increased to R1.351 trillion in May compared to R1.320 trillion in April, with the resultant average value per transaction covered in the BETI increasing to R7 618, higher than April's R7 485. 'All payment streams increased in both volume and value terms during May.' ALSO READ: Economic activity still moving sideways but optimism increases Two PMIs and new car sales also added to increased economic activity Kruger says two other timeous economic indicators also posted stronger readings. The S&P Global South Africa Purchasing Managers' Index increased to 50.8 in May, driven by the sharpest uplift in private sector output in four years. Naamsa also reported that the strong momentum in the local vehicle sales market continued into May 2025. Total vehicle sales increased by 22%, with year-to-date sales up by 12.6% compared to the same period a year earlier. New car sales surged by an impressive 30%, while year-to-date, sales were a notable 21.2% higher. On the other hand, she points out that the seasonally adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), reflecting on prospects in the manufacturing sector, remained in contractionary territory for a seventh consecutive month at 43.1 index points. 'Furthermore, the BETI rebound is a timely development, given that the economy started 2025 on the backfoot as seasonally adjusted quarterly growth of only 0.1% was registered in the first quarter with sectors such as mining, manufacturing and construction now in technical recession.' says Kruger. ALSO READ: Structural reform is silver bullet needed for SA economy to grow – OECD Economic growth adjusted downward, but inflation stays low While economic growth forecasts for 2025 have been revised downward, with the latest Reuters consensus among economists now projecting real gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 1.2%, down from 1.7% in January. Carpe Diem Research offers an even more cautious outlook, forecasting growth at just 1.0%. On the more positive side, Kruger says local inflation remains well under control, with headline inflation at 2.8% in April, below the target band of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) of between 3-6%, with the average 2025 forecast around 3.4%. 'The favourable inflation environment created ample scope for the Sarb to cut interest rates. Even after a 25 basis points cut in May, the repo rate remains quite high at 7.25%, as real interest rates are still considered punitive for an economy muddling along, unable to gain meaningful momentum.' Kruger also points out that, helped by some weakness in the US dollar, the rand exchange rate recovered all of its losses after the US 'Liberation Day' announcements and trading at fairly strong levels. 'The low inflation rate will play a key role in supporting the recovery of salary earners' purchasing power. With average salary increases expected to be between 5% and 6%, 2025 will be the second consecutive year of real increases in salaries, which should support consumer spending.'
The Citizen
28-05-2025
- The Citizen
Locals fell prey to fraud worth thousands of rands
Fraudsters over the past weekend left more than three locals stunned after scamming thousands of rands through electronic transactions. According to the police, the scams varying from digital theft to in-person deception, have robbed individuals of their hard-earned money, proving that fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their tactics. 'To protect yourself from fraud and cyber threats, never respond to emails or phone messages claiming to be from your bank that request personal details, as legitimate banks will never ask for this information via email. Never share your online ID, password, or PIN with anyone, and avoid writing them down or saving them on your desktop. Always ensure you log off or sign out after completing an internet banking session, and never leave your computer unattended while logged in. Avoid doing online banking in public areas or on computers accessible to strangers. Regularly change your PIN and passwords, set reasonable transaction limits on your accounts, and only provide credit card details to trustworthy companies. Lastly, if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is – always remain cautious and vigilant when dealing with financial transactions,' said Captain Eddie Hall, spokesperson of SAPS Witbank as he warns the public against cases like this. For one unsuspecting victim in Watermeyer street on May 23, a simple phone notification turned into a nightmare. According to police a man was woken up by the sound of his phone beeping, and checked his account only to find that R18 700 had been withdrawn via a PayShap transaction—an app he never authorised for such use. The realisation was sudden as the reality of cyber fraud hit home. On May 22, there were a few cases reported. In Strydom Street a man encountered three individuals – two women and one man – who claimed to be employees of a national fuel company. They assured him they were assisting customers with their points cards for petrol purchases. Trusting them, he allowed them to take his picture and handed over his ID details. What followed was financial devastation – R81 000 was withdrawn from his bank account across multiple locations. In another incident in Uthingo Park, Tasbet Park, a woman found herself unknowingly tricked by a scam that exploited trust and familiarity. According to police she received a message on WhatsApp, supposedly from her pastor, requesting an urgent money transfer due to a network issue. Without questioning the legitimacy of the request, she transferred R3 000 to the provided account number, only to later receive confirmation that her pastor's number had been hacked. 'I never suspected it was a scam – I genuinely believed I was helping my pastor. My trust in him made me certain that his request was genuine, and I acted with a kind heart, simply wanting to support someone in need. It never crossed my mind that I could be deceived,' she said. In another incident, a resident in Bankenveld Estate fall prey to an attack which came in the form of unexpected online money transactions. On May 14, he noticed unusual deductions from his Absa account. Upon contacting the bank's fraud helpline, he was informed that his account had been cloned, resulting in a staggering loss of R39 524.64. Breaking news at your fingertips … Follow WITBANK NEWS on our website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok Chat to us: info@ At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
