Reserve Bank To Open National Payments System To Fintechs

Allowing non-banks into the clearance and settlement system will allow standalone fintechs as well as those run by retailers and mobile operators, for example, to facilitate payments between parties without necessarily having a traditional bank involved at all.

This, the Reserve Bank believes, will help underserved communities, which form a significant portion of the fintech market, to transact more efficiently.

"We recognise that where we are coming from, transacting traditionally happens from bank accounts and historically bank accounts are where we save our money," said Tim Masela, head of the National Payments System department at the South African Reserve Bank , in an episode of the TechCentral Show to be published later this week.

"We recognise that today people dont necessarily need to bank, but they do need to transact. And thus I could have my money in a bank account, but for ease of transacting, I could take some of that money and put it into a digital wallet to be able to transact," Masela said.

One of the ways non-bank fintechs drive financial inclusion is by being available at times when traditional banks are not.