Payments giant Mastercard has revealed that South Africa is becoming the first market to benefit from the security and speed of real-time card payments.
Mastercard plans to enable acquiring banks in South Africa to process real-time card payments, through a variety of strategic partnerships and enhancements to its network.
Instant and secure payments can act as a multiplier to help businesses and economies thrive and grow. To further Mastercard’s vision of bringing immediacy to card payments, all merchants in South Africa who accept Mastercard payments will receive faster payouts, empowering businesses with better cash flow management and faster funds availability.
This move aims to provide merchants with more visibility and control over their funds, free up capital and increase the velocity of money in the economy, driving growth and innovation.
In the future, Mastercard will enable issuing banks in South Africa – and then around the globe – to process real-time card payments, empowering consumers with increased transparency, faster payments, and real-time insights into their funds.
“As consumer expectations and the needs of businesses change, we are ensuring payments meet the evolving speed of customers’ lives,” explained Gabriel Swanepoel, Southern Africa country manager at Mastercard.
“By enhancing processing standards and delivering faster clearing and settlement, we aim to support small businesses with better cash flow and enable acquirers to manage liquidity more effectively. This innovation supports the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) vision and reflects our commitment to driving inclusive economic growth, ensuring that every transaction is not just faster but more secure, efficient, and accessible.”
Supporting economic growth in South Africa
As part of Mastercard’s efforts, it will also roll out new standards and solutions, which it hopes will accelerate processing speed for card transactions. These new standards will enable same-day payouts for South African merchants through the introduction of real-time clearing and more frequent settlement cycles.
This initiative aligns with the SARB’s National Payments System Strategy Vision 2025, which highlights the importance of evolving payment systems to meet the needs of people and businesses to drive financial inclusion.
To bring its vision of real-time card payments to life, Mastercard is partnering with ACI Worldwide, the global payments technology provider. Alongside ACI, Mastercard will support acquirers in South Africa to quickly and easily adopt real-time transaction processing standards.
Bill Farris, head of issuing and acquiring at ACI Worldwide, also said: “We share Mastercard’s commitment to leveraging technology to empower the South African market with an advanced and inclusive payments system. This initiative will ultimately improve liquidity and enable faster access to funds, delivering more seamless payment experiences for local customers and businesses.”
Mastercard is exploring other regions to bring immediate, secure payments to more consumers and businesses across the globe. It says these advancements will benefit merchants, acquirers, issuers and cardholders across the Mastercard network, aligning with the company’s mission of connecting one billion people into the digital economy by 2025.
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