The local banking and payment sector is on the cusp of a major leap forward through the introduction of South Africa’s very own Rapid Payment Programme (RPP). Led by BankServAfrica in collaboration with the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA), RPP is intended to create a simpler, safer and cheaper instant payment environment.
With the support of the SA Reserve Bank, 11 major banks and the broader fintech industry, RPP will allow people to make real-time bank account-to-account payments using a proxy or identifier, like a cell phone number or email address. Crucially, the system will allow for the ability to make, receive and request payments. Payments will be instantaneous, irrespective of the originating and recipient bank involved, without having to wait for the funds to clear.
Not only is this good news for underbanked consumers who have historically relied on cash as their primary payment method, but it also modernises the industry by creating new and exciting opportunities for merchants, SMEs, e-commerce, and major enterprises alike.
Expected to launch in 2022, Ukheshe sees this instant and cost-effective payment system being driven by consumers and merchants. These inevitable market forces will then ensure banks adapt and tailor their offerings to meet shifting demands. Ukheshe is ideally positioned to assist banks in implementing solutions quickly to pre-empt these shifting demands.
Expected to launch in 2022, Ukheshe sees this instant and cost-effective payment system to be driven by individuals and SME’s. Individuals will be able to quickly pay or receive payments and business owners will be provided with a cheaper way of accepting payment online and in person. This, in turn, will drive uptake across the acceptance domain of merchants, aggregators and service providers of all sizes.
Ukheshe will have a unique role to play in this new ecosystem as we already have the solutions in place to support banks and other financial services providers in delivering payment solutions using the RPP system. Ukheshe’s Eclipse API is the mega framework that already allows our Eclipse tenants to access multiple payment solutions, all via a single integration point. Ukheshe is keen to explore synergies and interoperability between RPP account payments and existing digital wallet and card payment methods on the Eclipse platform. A big focus will be to leverage our experience in the QR payments landscape, and enable our bank, telco and fintech partners to use QR codes as a proxy for RPP P2P payments, all across multiple rails including account, digital wallet and card rails.
As a market-leading B2B fintech enabler, Ukheshe is looking forward to the next generation of payments infrastructure, what it means for the industry, and the many new avenues for growth it represents to our current and future Eclipse tenants and partners.
Comments