TymeBank introduces free transactions with PayShap

One of the latest financial services institutions to offer instant payments through PayShap is TymeBank, which is South Africa’s real-time digital settlement platform that doesn’t require users to share their account details.

Unlike other banks, though, TymeBank has promised not to levy a fee on PayShap transactions. In a statement, the bank mentioned that this is a significant win for the consumer who is feeling the pinch financially due to the ongoing cost of living crisis.

The bank’s CEO, Coen Jonker said: “We are passionate about financial inclusion and making banking affordable for everyone, which is why we decided to make PayShap free for our customers, having seen similar digital payment systems introduced in Brazil, India and Singapore successfully for free.”

Even though there is a limit of R3 000/transaction to ShapIDs (a bank account holder’s cellphone number, for example), payments are free. Chief commercial officer Cheslyn Jacobs said: “By making PayShap to mobile numbers free, we are giving all our individual and business customers the opportunity to fully enjoy the benefits of real-time digital payments across banks without having to worry about transaction fees.”

PayShap was built by BankservAfrica and was launched commercially in March. It is being released to the market in two stages. The second leg will introduce an additional request-to-pay function to make it possible for a person to request payment and receive money securely and immediately in their bank account.