New South African Payment Group to Advance Payment Digitization in SA

In South Africa, where a substantial section of the population is still unbanked and millions of businesses rely only on cash transactions, the formation of a groundbreaking alliance promises to transform the financial industry.

Introducing ASAPP: A Step Towards a Modern Payment Ecosystem

Today, eight of South Africa’s biggest non-bank digital payment providers formally founded the Association of South African Payment Providers (ASAPP).

Founded by Altron, Hello Group, iKhokha, Lesaka, Network International/Payfast by Network, Peach Payments, Shop2Shop, and Yoco, they are among the most powerful firms in South Africa’s non-bank payment ecosystem. These organizations have extensive knowledge and a common commitment to enhancing the country’s digital payment landscape. They collectively account for a sizable part of South Africa’s payment providers other than traditional banks.

Introducing ASAPP – the Association for South African Payment Providers – a collective of non-bank entities advocating fair access to payment infrastructure, reducing the wholesale cost of digital payments and improving customer mobility and transparency.#payments #southafrica pic.twitter.com/ee1cjwOyto

— ASAPP (@ASAPP_ZA) January 22, 2025

ASAPP aims to enhance customer mobility in South Africa’s payment systems, reduce digital payment wholesale costs, and ensure equitable access to payment infrastructure. To promote financial inclusion and ensure more companies and consumers can benefit from a modern, inclusive payment system, it seeks additional support for non-bank payment providers.

By collaborating with regulators, policymakers, and industry stakeholders, ASAPP aims to address the challenges faced by the payment sector while also exploring innovative opportunities to unlock a more inclusive and digitized future for South African payments.

“We see cash as being the most dominant form of payment for many consumers, micro-merchants, and small businesses in townships, villages, and city centers across the country. This is not sustainable,” says Lincoln Mali, President of ASAPP and CEO of Lesaka Technologies. “We need to digitize our economy. We need to open up our payment system and make it more modern and inclusive so that more merchants, small businesses, and consumers can participate in a modern payment environment.”

Mali, as a 25-year-old financial services executive, believes that digitizing payments will enhance financial inclusion in South Africa by providing secure and efficient financial services.