ZARU Brings Absa Into Its Rand Stablecoin Network

South African fintech ZARU has added Absa to its banking network, expanding the financial infrastructure supporting its rand-backed stablecoin as the company targets greater institutional use of blockchain-based settlement. Absa becomes the second major banking partner supporting ZARU’s connection to South Africa’s banking system. The partnership strengthens the link between rand-denominated funds held within the local financial system and ZARU transactions carried out on blockchain networks.

For ZARU, the move adds another banking relationship through which the stablecoin ecosystem can operate. It also creates greater capacity and redundancy as transaction volumes grow.

Absa Joins ZARU’s Banking Network

ZARU is designed as a fully reserved stablecoin backed by the South African rand. Each ZARU is intended to maintain a one-to-one value with the rand, with the underlying reserves held within South Africa’s financial system.

Absa joins Standard Bank, which serves as ZARU’s primary banking and custody partner. ZARU says having two major South African banks supporting the network creates multiple routes between the rand and the blockchain, while increasing banking coverage and settlement capacity.

The addition of Absa gives the network another major financial institution as ZARU develops its infrastructure for institutional transactions. For businesses and financial institutions, the banking layer remains important because the stablecoin depends on regulated financial infrastructure to receive rand, maintain reserves and process redemptions.

ZARU’s Banking Structure

ZARU launched in February 2026 through a collaboration involving Luno, Sanlam, EasyEquities and Lesaka. The stablecoin is backed 1:1 by rand-denominated reserves, allowing rand value to be issued and redeemed through a blockchain-based system.

When rand is deposited into the system, an equivalent amount of ZARU is issued. When ZARU is redeemed, the tokens are removed from circulation and the corresponding rand is returned.

Standard Bank provides the existing banking and custody infrastructure, while Sanlam manages the reserve assets. Absa now joins that banking network, giving ZARU an additional route into South Africa’s banking system.

Building Institutional Capacity

Adding Absa gives ZARU another major banking relationship as it works towards larger institutional transactions.

The company says the additional banking infrastructure increases overall volume capacity and operational resilience. Multiple banking relationships can also provide institutions with greater confidence that the network has sufficient infrastructure to support settlement as usage grows.

ZARU's broader structure separates issuance, reserve management, custody and liquidity between different organisations. BlockTower South Africa handles issuance and redemption, Sanlam manages reserve assets, Standard Bank provides banking and custody, Currency Hub provides market-making and Luno Global provides a secondary trading venue. That structure is intended to prevent the stablecoin from depending on a single organisation for every part of its operation.

The potential use cases extend beyond cryptocurrency trading. ZARU has been designed for cross-border payments, corporate treasury, financial settlement and transactions involving tokenised assets. Luno describes the stablecoin as an instrument that can allow institutions to move rand-denominated value with blockchain settlement while keeping the underlying reserves within South Africa.

Stablecoins in South Africa

ZARU's expansion comes as South African financial institutions increase their involvement in stablecoins and blockchain-based payments.

The country already has several rand-backed digital currencies, while banks are also exploring their own stablecoin infrastructure. Absa itself has previously been reported to be piloting a rand stablecoin, highlighting the growing interest among established financial institutions in blockchain-based settlement.

ZARU takes a different approach by combining a rand-backed digital asset with existing regulated financial institutions and banking infrastructure.

The underlying objective is to give the rand a digital settlement instrument that can operate continuously on blockchain networks. Traditional cross-border payments can involve banking hours, clearing processes and multiple intermediaries. A blockchain-based settlement layer can reduce some of those constraints.

For ZARU, the addition of Absa strengthens the infrastructure behind that model. It does not change how users purchase, hold or use the stablecoin, but adds another major banking institution to the network supporting its movement between the traditional financial system and blockchain.

The addition of Absa gives ZARU more banking capacity as it looks to support larger settlement flows and expand the use of rand-denominated digital assets beyond crypto trading.