Mastercard enables real-time card payments, starting in South Africa

Source: Reuters.

Through product innovations, enhancements to its network and strategic partnerships, Mastercard will enable acquiring banks to process real-time card payments.

For the first time, all merchants in South Africa who accept Mastercard payments will receive faster payouts, empowering businesses with better cashflow management and faster funds availability.

This, in turn, provides merchants with more visibility and control over their funds, frees up capital and increases the velocity of money in the economy, driving growth and innovation.

In the future, Mastercard will enable issuing banks in South Africa – and around the globe – to process real-time card payments, empowering consumers with increased transparency, faster payments, and real-time insights into their funds.

As part of Mastercard’s efforts to bring cutting-edge payments technology to the ecosystem, the company will roll out new standards and solutions, which will accelerate the processing speed for card transactions. The enhancements and new standards will enable same-day payouts for South African merchants through the introduction of real-time clearing and more frequent settlement cycles.

Real-time payments launch

This initiative aligns with the South African Reserve Bank’s National Payments System Strategy Vision 2025, which underscores the importance of evolving payment systems to meet the needs of people and businesses to drive financial inclusion.

South Africa – where Mastercard laid the groundwork for these changes last year by enhancing its network and enabling transactions to be processed locally – will be Mastercard’s first market to experience real-time card payments.

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“We are excited to announce this initiative, which signals a significant leap forward in the modernisation of payments in South Africa. As consumer expectations and the needs of businesses change, we are ensuring payments meet the evolving speed of customers’ lives.”

Gabriel Swanepoel, Southern Africa country manager, Mastercard continues: “By enhancing processing standards and delivering faster clearing and settlement, we aim to support small businesses with better cash flow and enable acquirers to manage liquidity more effectively.

"This innovation supports Sarb’s vision and reflects our commitment to driving inclusive economic growth, ensuring that every transaction is not just faster but more secure, efficient, and accessible.”

To bring its vision of real-time card payments to life, Mastercard is partnering with ACI Worldwide, a global payments technology provider. Together with ACI, Mastercard will empower acquirers in South Africa to quickly and easily adopt real-time transaction processing standards.

“We share Mastercard’s commitment to leveraging technology to empower the South African market with an advanced and inclusive payments system.

"This initiative will ultimately improve liquidity and enable faster access to funds, delivering more seamless payments experiences for local customers and businesses,” says Bill Farris, head of issuing and acquiring, ACI Worldwide.

As a key global priority, real-time card payments are central to Mastercard’s strategy. Mastercard is exploring other regions to bring immediate, secure payments to more consumers and businesses across the globe.

These advancements will benefit merchants, acquirers, issuers and cardholders across the Mastercard network, aligning with the company’s mission of connecting 1 billion people into the digital economy by 2025.