As South Africans increasingly expect their banking to match the speed and convenience of everyday digital services, instant payments are emerging as a new battleground for innovation.
Source: Supplied. GoTyme chief executive officer, Cheslyn Jacobs.
GoTyme Bank chief executive officer Cheslyn Jacobs believes customers should not have to pay a premium to access their money immediately, challenging conventional approaches to banking fees and payment speeds.
In this second instalment of BizCommunity’s four-part executive leadership series, Jacobs explores why free instant payments could reshape consumer and business banking, how technology can remove friction without compromising security, and why the future of banking will be defined by customer expectations beyond the banking sector.
GoTyme Bank has experienced rapid growth since entering the market. What does this growth reveal about changing customer expectations, and how do you ensure that the bank continues to innovate as it scales?
In our view, South Africans are ready for a different kind of banking relationship. Customers increasingly expect banking to be simple, transparent, affordable and available when and where they need it. They are also less willing to accept unnecessary fees, complicated processes or delays simply because these have traditionally been part of banking.
Our responsibility is to preserve the challenger mindset that enabled our growth in the first place. Scale should improve the customer experience, not make the organisation slower or more complex. We remain focused on listening to customers, using data to understand how they bank, and investing in their teams and in innovations that solve real problems.
Innovation, for us, is not about introducing technology for its own sake. It is about making banking easier, more accessible and really, more beautiful. As we grow, we’ll continue to test every decision against a simple question: does this deliver banking as it should be for the customer?
GoTyme Bank’s latest campaign is centred around free instant payments. Why does GoTyme Bank believe instant payments should be the default?
People can order food, book transport and communicate with someone on the other side of the world almost instantly. It makes little sense that making everyday payments should still involve a delay - or that immediate access should be treated as a premium service.
Payments are not an add-on to banking; they are one of its most fundamental functions. Customers send money to family, pay service providers, settle shared household expenses and keep small businesses operating. In many of these situations, the recipient needs the money immediately. That is why we believe instant payments should be the standard experience, not a special option hidden behind an additional fee.
Modern banking should move at the speed of people’s lives. Our campaign is about more than promoting a product feature. It is a challenge to the industry to rethink what customers should reasonably expect from their bank.
GoTyme Bank offers customers free instant payments of up to R5,000. What informed this decision, and how does it reflect the bank’s broader approach to challenging conventional banking fees and practices?
The R5,000 threshold covers many of the everyday payments customers make, so making those payments instant and free gives customers greater control over their money while removing a cost that can accumulate over time.
This reflects our broader approach to pricing. We do not begin with the assumption that a fee must exist because it has traditionally existed. We ask what value it creates for the customer and whether the fee is fair and necessary.
Free instant payments are possible because of a strategic choice about where we create value and how we share the efficiencies of a digital banking model with customers. We want to demonstrate that charging for speed is a choice, not an inevitability.
How do fees for instant payments affect ordinary consumers and small businesses?
A single fee may appear relatively small, but the cumulative effect can be meaningful- especially for customers managing tight household budgets or small businesses making multiple payments.
If someone makes five lower-value instant payments a month and pays between approximately R2 and R7 per transaction, that could amount to between R120 and R420 a year. That is money that could otherwise contribute towards transport, electricity, data, food or savings.
For small businesses, the effect can be even greater. Entrepreneurs regularly need to pay suppliers, casual workers and service providers, often under time-sensitive circumstances. These businesses should not have to choose between waiting for a standard payment to clear and paying an additional fee to keep operating efficiently.
There is also a broader behavioural effect. When customers are charged more for instant payments, they may delay a payment, revert to cash or use less secure informal alternatives. Removing the fee encourages greater participation in the digital economy and helps money move more efficiently between individuals and businesses.
As a digital bank, how is GoTyme Bank using technology, simplicity and accessibility to create a banking experience that is meaningfully different from that offered by traditional banks?
Our advantage is not simply that we are digital. It is that we use technology to remove friction and give customers greater control over their banking. This is reflected in extremely quick account opening, straightforward pricing, no monthly account fee, free everyday digital transactions and an app designed around how customers actually manage their money. Customers can make payments, save, manage their cards and access key account services without navigating unnecessary complexity.
At the same time, we recognise that digital banking should not mean leaving people out of the equation. Our model combines a powerful digital platform with a physical presence through kiosks and customer hubs manned by trained ambassadors. At these touchpoints, customers can access human support when they need it.
The combination of digital convenience and accessible human assistance is important in a market as diverse as South Africa. The goal is not to force every customer into the same journey. It is to make modern banking simple and accessible to more people.
Speed and convenience must also be balanced with safety. What needs to be done to ensure that instant payments are both seamless and secure for customers?
Speed must never come at the expense of trust. Because instant payments are processed in real time, banks and payment providers need to provide recipient verification - clear confirmation of who is being paid - at the point of payment without making legitimate transactions unnecessarily difficult.
Banks must also continue investing in biometric verification, device security, transaction monitoring and customer education. Technology can identify suspicious patterns, but customers also need practical guidance on common scams and the confidence to pause when something does not feel right.
The objective should be a payment experience that is fast for legitimate customers and increasingly difficult for fraudsters to exploit.
Looking ahead, how could free and ubiquitous instant payments, together with more customer-focused digital banking, change the way South Africans manage their money and participate in the economy?
Free and widely available instant payments can give people far greater control over their financial lives. When money moves immediately, households can respond to urgent needs, workers and service providers can be paid without delay, and small businesses can manage cash flow more effectively.
For entrepreneurs, real-time payments can reduce reliance on cash, create clearer transaction records and make it easier to access funding and participate in the formal economy. Over time, a more open and affordable instant-payment ecosystem can also create a foundation for new services and business models.
Payments can become more intuitive, embedded and interoperable, allowing customers to move money easily regardless of which bank or platform they use. That is the larger opportunity. Instant payments are not merely a faster version of an existing banking service. They can help build a more efficient and inclusive economy in which people and businesses have immediate access to their money and greater freedom to use it on their own terms.
The banks that succeed will be those that recognise that customers are no longer comparing banking only with other banks. They are comparing it with the best digital experiences in every part of their lives. Our ambition is to ensure that banking meets—and ultimately exceeds—that expectation.
