SA payments system upgrade: How SARB proposal will save you money at the ATM

South Africa is set for a major overhaul of its national payment system (NPS), and this includes a more user-friendly approach to ATMs.

Payments Ecosystem Modernisation or PEM has been elevated as a strategic priority by the Reserve Bank (SARB).

The rollout will include introducing a utility function for cash, explains Pradeep Maharaj, Executive Director for the PEM programme: "This so we can make cash more affordable, more accessible and provide it through selected vendors that are all accredited or licensed as far as ATMs are concerned."

Currently, bank clients prefer to use an ATM operated by their own bank, as the fee charged for transactions will be lower than at others.

As the SARB envisages the proposed new system, all the ATM infrastructure of the country will be taken over by the utility and provided with a white label which means that you would pay the same fee at all the ATMs.

The cost would be almost zero to theend user, Maharaj says, and at low cost to the participants providing that service.

"We're proposing that all of the ATMs go into a utility - so a cash utility company will be set up, and all of the infrastructure be brought into it. There would be centres across the country where cash will be deposited, processed, recirculated or withdrawn from circulation."

This shared infrastructure, he says, means they can rationalise to ensure that the infrastructure is in the right places where the demand for cash is. "In so doing, we can reduce the movement between these centres and ATMs, and ultimately bring down the cost of serving the end user."

For more detail, listen to the interview in the audio at the top of the article