South African fintechs have long been building their own apps, winning their own customers, and processing their own payments, but at the end of the day, a bank still takes a cut just for moving the money. That arrangement has quietly made banks some of their steadiest income from the very companies competing against them. Now, that setup is being challenged.
On October 20, South African Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago announced plans to publish a new authorisation framework by the end of November 2026. The proposed reforms would allow regulated non-banks to issue electronic money, process merchant payments, and plug directly into clearing and settlement systems, all without needing a sponsor bank in the middle.
What that dependence actually costs is not abstract. In Lesaka Technologies' September 2025 earnings call, executive chairman Ali Mazanderani spelled it out plainly: the South African fintech group pays banks for access to the payment system and misses out on interest it could have earned on deposits held through those partnerships. Multiply that across dozens of payment companies and the numbers get interesting fast.
Once the framework opens up, South African payment companies will face a real choice. They can pocket the fees they currently hand to bank partners, or they can pass those savings on to customers through lower prices. That decision will shape whether this reform actually makes payments cheaper for everyday people, or simply shifts who collects the money.
Originally published by TechCabal.