What is the most popular payment method in South Africa?
Cash still leads by number of payments, with 56% of consumer payments by volume in the SARB's 2023 Payments Study. Debit cards lead by value, with 55% of what consumers spend. Online, debit cards, Capitec Pay and Apple Pay are the top choices.
In detail
It depends on how you count. Cash still leads by number of payments: in the South African Reserve Bank's 2023 Payments Study, cash made up 56% of consumer payments by volume but only 21% by value. Debit cards lead by value, with 55% of what consumers spend and 34% of the volume.
Two payment cultures
98% of diary respondents used cash, with an average cash payment of R208, against R768 for a debit card. There is no domestic card scheme: banks issue Visa and Mastercard cards, and debit dominates.
Online
- Debit cards remain the first choice.
- Capitec Pay, approved in the Capitec app, is the preferred online method for 24.6% of shoppers in Stitch's 2026 survey.
- Apple Pay became the most-used e-commerce method by volume on Stitch's platform in Q1 2026.
- Instant EFT, PayShap and BNPL complete the checkout.
Online card success is a weak spot: nearly 1 in 4 online card attempts failed in Q1 2026, often on invalid details or 3D Secure.
What it means for payment operators
For operators serving South African merchants, a checkout needs cards, wallets and bank payments together. Connecting local providers and using routing rules on card traffic helps recover failed card attempts.