Payments Companies Form New Industry Body In South Africa
The Association of South African Payment Providers Asapp is an industry body that aims to promote fair access to payment infrastructure, reduce the wholesale cost of digital payments and enhance customer mobility within the payments ecosystem, its founding members said on Wednesday.
"We see cash as being the most dominant form of payment for many consumers, micro merchants and small businesses in townships, villages and city centres across the country," said Lesaka Technologies CEO and president of Asapp Lincoln Mali at a launch event in Johannesburg.
"This is not sustainable. We need to digitise our economy. We need to open up our payments system, to make it more modern and inclusive, so that more merchants, small businesses and consumers can participate in a modern payment environment," said Mali.
Asapp's founding members are:
- Altron
- Hello Group
- iKhokha
- Lesaka Technologies
- Network International formerly known as Payfast
- Peach Payments
- Shop2Shop
- Yoco
The launch of Asapp comes as the Reserve Bank prepares to open up the National Payments System to non-bank fintechs in an effort drive the digitisation of money and improve financial inclusion.