The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has completed the acquisition of a 50% stake in PayInc, formerly known as BankservAfrica.
The announcement comes after the Competition Tribunal last monthunconditionally approved the merger, in which SARB would acquire shareholding in PayInc.
Following the merger, the central bank now controls the primary payment clearing house system operator, authorised by the Payment Association of South Africa, for domestic payments in South Africa.
PayInc’s main activity is delivering payment clearing and settlement services for South African financial institutions, such as banks. It facilitates payment transactions between payment institutions and enables domestic payment transactions involving different bank clients to occur between different banks, and for those payment transactions to be settled and cleared seamlessly.
In a statement, PayInc says the merger milestone marks the beginning of a new chapter in South Africa’s payments modernisation.
Concurrently, Capitec and Investec have subscribed as direct shareholders of PayInc. In a related transaction, Access Bank, African Bank, Capitec, Citibank SA and Investec will also subscribe for direct holdings in PayInc, through the unbundling of the Dandyshelf shareholding, the payments clearing house notes.
At the conclusion of both transactions, Capitec will be an equal shareholder to the existing shareholder banks (Absa, FirstRand, Nedbank and Standard Bank), while the remaining banks will hold minority shares.
The SARB’s equity subscription establishes PayInc as a national payments utility, jointly owned by the central bank and South Africa’s commercial banks.
According to PayInc, this public-private partnership provides the foundation for building a digital payments ecosystem that is more secure, efficient and inclusive – enabling greater economic participation for all South Africans.
“This moment reflects the culmination of a shared vision between the SARB, the banking industry and PayInc to transform South Africa’s payments infrastructure,” says Stephen Linnell, CEO of PayInc.
“With the SARB as a direct shareholder, PayInc is better positioned than ever to deliver modern, affordable, and inclusive payment services that will unlock growth across our economy.”
PayInc says since its origins as BankservAfrica more than five decades ago, the company has played a vital role in enabling electronic, card, cash and cheque payments.
Today, PayInc’s focus is on digital payment innovation and inclusivity.
“The conclusion of this transaction sets the stage for the next era of payments in South Africa,” adds Linnell. “As PayInc assumes a broader role as the national payments utility, we are proud to be working with all our stakeholders in scaling digital payments and enabling a payment ecosystem that is secure, efficient and inclusive.”
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