South Africa’s GoTyme says instant payments don’t have to come with fees
PayShap, South Africa’s instant-payment rail, has been available to bank customers since 2023.
South Africa's digital-first challenger lender GoTyme Bank is pushing for banks to offer instant payments without fees. The bank, which has been providing free instant payments of up to R5,000 ($309) since 2023, argues that the cost of the underlying payment infrastructure is not necessarily passed on to customers. GoTyme's managing executive for digital experience, Marin Cundall, maintains that a modern, efficient bank can choose not to pass every cost directly to the customer.
The bank sees real-time payments as an essential part of everyday banking, not a premium service. Cundall hopes that banks will start treating real-time payments as infrastructure for mass use, rather than a premium feature. She argues that such payments are essential for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and everyday transactions like paying for lunch or sending money to family members.
Brazil's Pix and India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) are cited as examples of successful real-time payment systems. The World Bank report suggests that faster payments can accelerate liquidity and help businesses use money sooner for various expenses. However, GoTyme has yet to quantify the impact of free instant payments on cash usage or SME cash flow.
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