South Africa’s Reserve Bank plans to introduce free low-value ATM transactions and unify more than 30,000 cash machines under a shared, unbranded network, in a sweeping reform aimed at reducing cash costs and widening access to financial services.
The central bank will begin piloting white-labelled ATMs in January 2027, with the first batch expected to be deployed by the end of the year as part of a broader plan to consolidate the country’s fragmented cash infrastructure.
Pradeep Maharaj, executive director of the Reserve Bank’s Payments Ecosystem Modernisation programme, said the bank wanted all ATMs to support cash deposits, withdrawals and balance enquiries, with transactions below a threshold yet to be determined offered free of charge.
“We are asking banks to white-label all ATMs,” Maharaj said at a media briefing on Friday, adding that the central bank would continue discussions with banks before settling on a final model.
The proposal could significantly change how South Africans access cash, particularly customers who rely on independent ATM operators or cannot easily reach machines operated by their own banks.
About 9,200 of the country’s approximately 30,600 ATMs are operated by independent deployers that do not accept cash deposits, according to the Reserve Bank’s cost of cash study, based on 2024 data.
Under the proposed model, customers would have access to a more standardised network rather than machines tied to individual banks or operators. Maharaj also criticised charges imposed when a customer’s own bank ATM is unavailable, describing them as a disloyalty fee.
The central bank plans to respond to alternative models submitted by banks in November 2026, begin the ATM pilot in January 2027 and establish a national cash utility by March 2027. Cash centres operated by companies including SBV and Fidelity are expected to start moving into the Reserve Bank’s structure by mid-2027.
The utility would consolidate cash centres, transport routes and cash-management systems currently operated separately by banks and cash-in-transit companies. By reducing repeated counting, checking and movement of banknotes, the Reserve Bank expects to lower operating costs across the cash supply chain.
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High cost of cash drives reform
The proposed overhaul comes as South Africa faces mounting pressure to make its cash infrastructure more efficient while ensuring that low-income communities are not excluded as digital payments expand.
The Reserve Bank’s cost of cash study estimates that handling cash imposes an annual economic cost of R88.5 billion, equivalent to about 1.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Approximately R180 billion in cash circulates in the system, according to Arif Ismail, head of the central bank’s national payment system department.
The burden falls disproportionately on poorer households. Consumers earning up to R1,250 monthly spend about five percent of their income on cash-related costs, compared with approximately 1 percent among those earning R20,000 or more.
The central bank argues that the economics of operating ATMs, cash centres and transport networks are becoming increasingly difficult as digital payments grow. The cost of maintaining much of the infrastructure remains relatively fixed, even as fewer transactions pass through it.
This pressure has contributed to the closure of branches and ATMs in rural and lower-income areas, creating cash deserts where residents must travel farther and pay more to access physical money.
Maharaj said the cost of cash would need to fall by at least 30 percent for the system to remain sustainable. Without structural changes, he warned, the cost of maintaining the existing model would continue to rise.
The Reserve Bank has emphasised that the initiative is intended to improve inclusion rather than eliminate cash. Cash accounts for 56 percent of consumer transactions by volume, according to the central bank’s study.
“Cash is a public good and core to inclusivity,” Maharaj said, rejecting the idea that South Africa was moving towards a completely cashless society.
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Central bank seeks greater control of cash infrastructure
The national cash utility is expected to bring major parts of the cash-handling system into a shared operating structure, addressing what the Reserve Bank describes as a concentration of wholesale cash-handling and transportation services among a small number of providers.
The central bank has warned that the departure or insolvency of a major cash logistics company could disrupt nationwide cash distribution, making resilience another reason for reform.
Unlike PayInc, the national payments infrastructure company in which the Reserve Bank acquired a 50 percent stake in November 2025, the proposed cash utility is expected to be wholly owned by the central bank, Maharaj said.
However, a final ownership and governance structure may still evolve. A Reserve Bank presentation delivered in Johannesburg in May suggested that industry participants could receive governance participation and ownership interests in the utility.
The cash reforms mirror the central bank’s efforts to standardise digital payments through PayInc, including its PayShap instant-payment service and a standardised QR+ payment code expected in November 2026.
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PayShap processes about 60 million transactions monthly, Ismail said, while the Reserve Bank is targeting 500 million transactions a month by 2029. Maharaj attributed slower adoption to gaps in parity, pricing, promotion and the range of places where the service can be used.
The central bank wants smaller digital payments to be free and QR+ to allow people such as car guards to accept digital payments without transaction fees.
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Together, the initiatives reflect a broader effort to reduce the cost of payments and make access more consistent across South Africa’s financial system. The immediate test for the ATM plan will be whether the Reserve Bank and commercial banks can agree on a model that lowers fees and operating costs without undermining the availability of cash in communities that depend on it.
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Royal Ibeh is a senior journalist with years of experience reporting on Nigeria’s technology and health sectors. She currently covers the Technology and Health beats for BusinessDay newspaper, where she writes in-depth stories on digital innovation, telecom infrastructure, healthcare systems, and public health policies.
