PayShap, South Africa’s interbank real-time digital payments service, has shown robust uptake since its launch in March.

PayShap data shows that since launch, more than 800 000 transactions have been recorded, with a settlement value of more than R660-million.

“In the first few months of its introduction, there’s been consistent growth in the adoption levels and transaction volumes for the PayShap service,” said chief product officer at BankservAfrica Mpho Sadiki. “The strong response to this new digital payment service is what we hoped for and we expect the uptake to rise as other banks come on board soon.”

PayShap data by BankservAfrica from the service’s launch date to 31 July 2023 shows that more than 300 000 ShapIDs have been registered. ShapIDs are linked to account holders’ banking profiles and replace the need to share bank account details for payment.

Payments processed through PayShap are rapidly authenticated and cleared in the recipient’s bank account in seconds.

For person-to-person payments, ShapIDs are linked to the account holder’s cellphone number. “We are seeing an increase in users opting to use their mobile number as their ShapID for instant and convenient payments,” Sadiki said.