PayShap, the real-time payments system developed by BankservAfrica, has announced a major update to the platform that it claims will “transform interbank payments”.

Set to be launched on 2 December, PayShap Request will allow individuals, businesses and even informal traders to send a request for immediate payment.

“PayShap Request will allow users to initiate payment requests instantly through their bank channels, accelerating payment across personal, business and corporate use cases,” BankservAfrica said in a statement on Monday.

The banks that will offer the service at launch are African Bank, Capitec, Discovery Bank, First National Bank, Investec, Nedbank, Standard Bank and TymeBank. Other banks will offer the feature next year.

“At launch, some participant banks will roll out the service for personal banking, others for business and/or corporate banking and others for personal as well as business and/or corporate banking,” BankservAfrica said. “It is anticipated that the service will be more widely available across participant bank customer segments in the coming months as they roll out the service.”

BankservAfrica, which facilitates interbank settlements through an automated payments clearing house, said PayShap Request is the result of a collaborative industry effort to innovate in payments.

Instant

“This new functionality extends PayShap’s capabilities to both person-to-person and person-to-business payments, helping users manage their payment obligations efficiently while allowing businesses to innovate and grow in the agile economy,” says Anton van der Merwe, head of scheme for PayShap at BankservAfrica, in the statement.

“Whether it’s a plumber requesting payment for a callout, sending a payment request to friends or family rather than another reminder, or a business accelerating the receipt of payments, PayShap Request is designed to meet a variety of needs. PayShap requests are sent in real-time, and once approved, get paid instantly.”

This is how it works:

The requester initiates a PayShap request: The requester sends a payment request to a payer using their bank account details or proxy (ShapID, business ShapID or Shap name). The requester also sets the expiry date of the request.
The payer approves the PayShap request: The payer receives the PayShap request and approves the request to make payment from their bank account.
Instant settlement: Once the payer approves the PayShap request, the funds reflect immediately in the requester’s bank account.

According to BankservAfrica, PayShap has already processed more than 130 million transactions since its inception in March 2023.