The ‘South Africa Cards and Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2029' report provides detailed analysis of market trends in the South African cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including cash, card, credit transfer, and direct debits during the review-period (2020-24e).
The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, transaction values and volumes during the review-period and over the forecast-period (2025f-29f). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including market shares of issuers and schemes.
The report brings together the analyst’s research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers detailed regulatory policies and recent changes in regulatory structure.
The report also analyzes various payment card markets operating in the industry and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, transaction values and volumes during the review-period and over the forecast-period (2025f-29f). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including market shares of issuers and schemes.
The report brings together the analyst’s research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers detailed regulatory policies and recent changes in regulatory structure.
The ‘South Africa Cards and Payments: Opportunities and Risks to 2029' report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into the South African cards and payments industry, including:
- Current and forecast values for each market in the South African cards and payments industry, including debit, credit and charge cards.
- Detailed insights into payment instruments including cash, card and cheques. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments.
- Ecommerce market analysis.
- Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing the South African cards and payments industry.
- Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit, credit and charge credit cards.
- Comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and buying preferences for cards.
- The competitive landscape of the South African cards and payments industry.
Key Highlights
- Contactless payments are gaining traction in the country, especially in transport services. To capitalize, South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) is implementing the nationwide rollout of contactless payment systems at toll plazas. Effective from December 1, 2024, magstripe card payments began to be phased out at certain toll gates, with a complete transition to contactless payments expected by May 31, 2025. This initiative is backed up by financial institutions, along with payment scheme providers such as Visa and Mastercard. Motorists will be encouraged to make payments via contactless cards, NFC tap to payments via mobile wallets, or wearable devices, Trac tags, or cash.
- The SARB’s Vision 2025 strategy serves as a catalyst for the transition to electronic payments, outlining key initiatives to modernize the payments landscape. Aligned with this vision, Mastercard launched real-time settlement for card transactions in South Africa, in October 2024. This advancement enables nearly instant processing, ensuring that merchants accepting Mastercard payments receive faster payouts. Through infrastructure upgrades and collaboration with financial partners, Mastercard will roll out new standards and solutions, which will accelerate the processing speed for card transactions. It is also enhancing its network, and enabling transactions to be processed locally, to offer real-time card payments.
- To promote electronic payments and displace cash usage in South Africa, Visa launched its “Tap to Add Card” service in South Africa, Ukraine and Georgia in February 2025. This feature allows users to add contactless Visa cards to mobile wallets, by simply tapping their cards against their smartphones, bypassing the manual entry of card details. By generating a unique, one-time code, validated by Visa's Chip Authenticate, the service simplifies the card addition process and enhances the security of digital payments.
Scope
- Card market size in terms of number of cards, value and volume of transactions in South Africa along with detailed card segmentation of debit, credit and charge cards available in the country.
- Market sizing and analysis of major payment instruments including cash, card, credit transfer, and direct debits.
- Payment market trends and growth for both historical and forecast period
- Competitor analysis with detailed insights into leading card issuers and schemes.
- Comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and buying preferences for cards.
- A detailed snapshot of country's key alternative payment brands.
Reasons to Buy
- Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to the South African cards and payments industry and each market within it.
- Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in the South African cards and payments industry.
- Assess the competitive dynamics in the South African cards and payments industry.
- Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in South Africa.
- Gain insights into key regulations governing the South African cards and payments industry.
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary2. Market Overview
3. Payment Instruments
4. Card-Based Payments
5. Merchant Acquiring
6. Ecommerce Payments
7. In-Store Payments
8. Buy Now Pay Later
9. Mobile Payments
10. P2P Payments
11. Bill Payments
12. Alternative Payments
13. Payment Innovation
14. Job Analysis
15. Payment Infrastructure and Regulation
16. Appendix
List of Tables
- Key facts, 2024
- Benchmarking of payment cards, 2024
- Payment instrument transaction values (LCU), 2020-29f
- Payment instrument transaction values ($), 2020-29f
- Payment instrument transaction volumes (units), 2020-29f
- Payment cards in circulation by type (units), 2020-29f
- Volume of payment card transactions (units), 2020-29f
- Value of payment card transactions (LCU), 2020-29f
- Value of payment card transactions ($), 2020-29f
- Debit cards in circulation (units), 2020-29f
- Debit card transaction volumes, 2020-29f
- Debit card transaction values (LCU), 2020-29f
- Debit card transaction values ($), 2020-29f
- Debit cards in circulation by scheme (units), 2020-24e
- Debit card transaction values by scheme (LCU), 2020-24e
- Debit card transaction values by scheme ($), 2020-24e
- Debit cards in circulation by issuer (units), 2020-24e
- Debit cards transaction value by issuer (LCU), 2020-24e
- Debit cards transaction value by issuer ($), 2020-24e
- credit and charge cards in circulation (units), 2020-29f
- credit and charge card transaction volumes, 2020-29f
- credit and charge card transaction values (LCU), 2020-29f
- credit and charge card transaction values ($), 2020-29f
- credit and charge cards in circulation by scheme (units), 2020-24e
- credit and charge card transaction values by scheme (LCU), 2020-24e
- credit and charge card transaction values by scheme ($), 2020-24e
- credit and charge cards in circulation by issuer (units), 2020-24e
- credit and charge cards transaction value by issuer (LCU), 2020-24e
- credit and charge cards transaction value by issuer ($), 2020-24e
- Credit cards in circulation (units), 2020-29f
- Credit card transaction volumes, 2020-29f
- Credit card transaction values (LCU), 2020-29f
- Credit card transaction values ($), 2020-29f
- Credit cards in circulation by scheme (units), 2020-24e
- Credit card transaction values by scheme (LCU), 2020-24e
- Credit card transaction values by scheme ($), 2020-24e
- Credit cards in circulation by issuer (units), 2020-24e
- Credit cards transaction value by issuer (LCU), 2020-24e
- Credit cards transaction value by issuer ($), 2020-24e
- charge cards in circulation (units), 2020-29f
- charge card transaction volumes, 2020-29f
- charge card transaction values (LCU), 2020-29f
- charge card transaction values ($), 2020-29f
- charge cards in circulation by scheme (units), 2020-24e
- charge card transaction values by scheme (LCU), 2020-24e
- charge card transaction values by scheme ($), 2020-24e
- merchant acquiring transaction volumes (units), 2020-29f
- merchant acquiring transaction values (LCU), 2020-29f
- merchant acquiring transaction values ($), 2020-29f
- acquirers’ transaction volumes (units), 2020-24e
- acquirers’ transaction values (LCU), 2020-24e
- acquirers’ transaction values ($), 2020-24e
- retail outlets and card-accepting merchants (units), 2020-29f
- debit card average interchange fees (%), 2020-24e
- credit and charge card average interchange fees (%), 2020-24e
- debit card merchant service charge and interchange fee (%), 2020-29f
- credit and charge card merchant service charge and interchange fee (%), 2020-29f
- retail market by product categories (LCU), 2020-29f
- retail market by product categories ($), 2020-29f
- retail market by service categories (LCU), 2020-24
- retail market by service categories ($), 2020-24
- Inflation rate
- GDP growth rate
- Payment instruments transaction value and volume
- Instant payments transaction value and volume
- Card penetration
- Card payments by value
- Debit card frequency of payments and average transaction value
- Debit card schemes transaction value and volume
- Debit card issuers by number of cards and transaction value
- Credit and charge card frequency of payments and average transaction value
- Credit and charge card schemes transaction value and volume
- Credit and charge card issuers by number of cards and transaction value
- Credit card debt
- Contactless card holding and usage in detail
- Merchant acquiring of payment card transaction value and volume
- Merchant acquiring of payment card transaction value and volume by company type
- Retail product by catagories transaction value and year-on-year grouth
- Retail services by catagories transaction value and year-on-year grouth
- E-commerce transaction value and ecommerce breakdown by mobile vs. desktop/laptop
- Ecommerce market by product and services
- Ecommerce market by paymnet tools
- Factors driving in-store payments and In-store transaction value by payment method
- In-store transaction value by products and services
- BNPL service used in the last six months and Preferred BNPL brand/tool for in-store payments
- BNPL online transaction value and transaction volume
- BNPL share of overall ecommerce transaction value and preferred BNPL brand/tool for online payments
- Mobile wallet holding and use by demographic
- Mobile wallet funding methods, mobile wallet preference by product/service and mobile wallet ownership by brand
- Domestic and international P2P money transfers
- Paymnet tool preference for bill payment and bill paymnet frequency
- Active jobs intensity in the country
- Number of POS terminals and ATMs
Companies Mentioned (Partial List)
A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:
- Capitec Bank
- Standard Bank
- Absa
- FNB
- Nedbank
- TymeBank Visa
- Mastercard
- American Express
