Prediction
In 2026, South Africa will see a rapid acceleration of digital payments adoption, both in retail and enterprise. This prediction is based on the fact that, since 2024, when the country’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) recognised crypto assets as financial products, theyhave been made “legitimate” for both everyday consumers and businesses.
What is interesting is that towards the tail end of 2025, banks, which have traditionally been thought to be digital payments, came into the fray. Most notable is the decision by Absa’s Corporate Investment Banking (CIB) division to partner with Ripple to offer digital asset custody services, starting with stablecoins. This move, especially by a bank, is likely to open the door for many other enterprises to offer digital asset services.
Supporting Evidence
In H2 2025 alone, some partnerships in the digital payments space include Absa/Ripple, Mukuru/VALR, as well as Luno/Discovery Group and Luno/SuperGroup (parent company of Betway).
This shows the unprecedented pace at which partnerships are driving digital payments adoption has been going in just the last six months. Additionally, in August 2025, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) opened the National Payment System (NPS) to fintechs, paving the way for more innovation in digital payments.
The apex bank also launched the Payments Ecosystem Modernisation (PEM) program, further creating room for digital payments innovation.
Risk Factor
Like any other market in Africa, the rate of digital asset adoption in South Africa will depend on the regulatory purviews of the government via the FSCA, as well as the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). In an interview in October, SARB governor Lesetja Kganyago expressed concerns that in some instances, stablecoins could be used to short the South African rand.
Such a concern shows that SARB is cognisant of the impact on sovereignty that a wide adoption of stablecoins can have. Additionally, South Africa is also a member of BRICS, which seems to be pushing for the dedollarisation of especially member countries, leaving a question mark on how governments would view the mass adoption of dollar-backed stablecoins.
As the saying goes, “what the regulator giveth, the regulator taketh”.
Who is Ephraim Modise?
Ephraim Modise is a journalist and writer whose work focuses on technology, business, and finance in Southern Africa. He covered the region for TechCabal between 2022 and 2024, where his reporting earned the Sanlam Excellence in Financial Journalism Award in 2024. He has also won the World Bank’s #Blog4Dev prize for writing on the intersection of technology and international development in Africa.
He currently writes the Tech Aways newsletter and hosts the Tech Aways podcast, engaging founders, investors, and finance leaders to provide context on the latest developments shaping Southern Africa’s tech ecosystem.