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Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago has announced that the long-awaited National Payment System Bill will soon be released for public comment, signalling a shift from entity-based to activity-based regulation of South Africa's roughly 400 fintechs. The reforms aim to create a dedicated licensing pathway for non-bank payment providers and establish a national payment utility accessible to all players who meet the required standards.
The Reserve Bank is preparing to place South Africa's fast-growing financial technology sector on the same regulatory footing as traditional banks. Governor Lesetja Kganyago used the opening of MTN Group Fintech's 2026 summit in Johannesburg to signal that the long-awaited National Payment System Bill will soon be released for public comment.
The proposed legislation represents a fundamental shift in regulatory philosophy, moving the country away from an entity-based model, in which oversight is determined by the type of institution providing the service, toward an activity-based approach, in which regulation follows what is actually being done. Kganyago articulated the underlying principle clearly at the gathering, stating that similar payment activities should be subject to similar regulatory expectations, whether they are performed by a bank or a fintech.
He illustrated the point with a familiar metaphor, noting that if something walks and quacks like a duck, it is a duck, and it should be treated as one. This change in approach is intended to close a long-standing gap in South Africa's regulatory architecture that has forced fintech companies to partner with licensed banks in order to move money, since no dedicated mobile money licence has existed for non-bank entities operating in the payments space.
The practical implications of the new framework were discussed at a media roundtable held alongside the summit. MTN Group Fintech executive Cedric N'guessan pointed out that a number of other African markets already permit non-banks to hold a dedicated mobile money licence rather than requiring them to obtain a full banking licence.
South Africa, by contrast, has lacked such a category, which is precisely the gap that the new authorisation framework and the National Payment System Bill are designed to close. Kganyago emphasised that opening the system to new participants does not mean lowering standards. New entrants would have to accept the core obligations that serve as the price of admission to the payment system, including robust governance, the safeguarding of customer funds, effective anti-money laundering controls, and ongoing supervisory oversight.
He described the Reserve Bank's strategy as beginning with an authorisation framework to provide clearer regulatory pathways for payment activities and participants, with the National Payment System Bill to follow and establish what he called a more durable legislative foundation for the entire ecosystem. Addressing his audience directly, the governor urged industry stakeholders to engage with the bill during the consultation period, warning that it would change the ecosystem within which they operate.
Kganyago also used his remarks to describe the broader vision underlying the reforms, characterising the envisioned national payment system as a national payment utility that is accessible to all players who meet the rules of participation in the South African payment ecosystem. He confirmed that modernising payments is now one of the Reserve Bank's top three strategic objectives, sitting alongside price stability and financial stability, and noted that fintechs are already reshaping the market.
A second Reserve Bank fintech scoping study had identified roughly 400 fintechs operating in South Africa, a figure that highlights both the scale of the sector and its growing importance in expanding access, improving customer experience, and pushing established institutions to raise their standards of governance and resilience. To frame the ambition of the reforms, Kganyago invoked what he called the no questions asked test for money, a concept borrowed from the Bank for International Settlements, which holds that money is what a counterparty will accept without complaint or hesitation.
He argued that neither cash nor cards fully passes that test in South Africa today, noting that many consumers still withdraw grants in cash because of concerns about fees and security, while merchants frequently resist card transactions due to charges of two to three percent. He expressed a desire to see South African money accepted with confidence, no questions asked, wherever it is tendered, and concluded by calling on all stakeholders to work together to achieve that goal
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