South African banks have largely slashed their instant payment charges following the introduction of PayShap to the local market.

This is according to the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI) Bank Cost Report for 2025, which has just been released.

Solidarity’s annual bank cost report analyses only ordinary transaction profiles – accounts that are available to any member of the public.

It says at the start of 2025, competitiveness improved in all four transaction profiles, with charges not only decreasing among the banks, but also moving closer to each other.

The Bank Charges Report was compiled based on the five main banks − Absa, FNB, Standard Bank, Nedbank and Capitec − with Tymebank and Bank Zero being included in the online category.

Launched in March 2023, PayShap enables instant digital payments between banks via a real-time clearing system that processes transactions within 60 seconds. It also seeks to make it possible to conduct transactions without the need for bank account details.

This is done through public and private identifiers (ShapIDs), such as a registered mobile number, or an e-mail address. In addition, PayShap provides a peer-to-peer e-wallet payment service.

The payments system is led by BankservAfrica – the payments partner and financial markets infrastructure provider to the financial services industry.