{"id":90824,"date":"2025-11-10T09:47:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T09:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/?p=90824"},"modified":"2025-12-06T07:34:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T07:34:52","slug":"this-week-in-charts-7-november-2025-wind-and-solar-surge-digital-transactions-rising-and-where-is-sas-cash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/2025\/11\/10\/this-week-in-charts-7-november-2025-wind-and-solar-surge-digital-transactions-rising-and-where-is-sas-cash\/","title":{"rendered":"Outlier #133: Wind and solar surge, digital transactions rising and where is SA’s cash?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\ud83d\udcb0 Cash flow<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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While digital payments continue to surge, South Africa still had R180-billion worth of notes and coins in circulation in 2024, according to PayInc (formerly BanservAfrica).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of that cash, R118-billion, sits with individuals and non-bank financial players. The South African Reserve Bank holds R34-billion, while commercial banks hold just R28-billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, cash is accessible not only through banks and their ATMs, but also through a growing network of non-bank providers such as independent ATM deployers, cash aggregators, retailers and merchants. This expansion reflects innovation and structural reform, not a decline in the importance of cash for banks or consumers,\u201d says PayInc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what happens to cash once it leaves commercial banks is still unclear. \u201cWith more non-bank players now part of the ecosystem, the flow and velocity of cash are harder to track, and available data is incomplete,\u201d PayInc says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udcf1 Rise of digital payments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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South Africans are making more digital payments than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past five years, annual digital payment volumes have doubled, from around 5-billion in 2020 to 10-billion transactions in 2025. While ATM withdrawals have dropped from 600-million to 290-million a year. Consumers now expect instant, always-on digital transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average person in South Africa currently makes six digital payments a month, according to Electrum<\/a>, the next-generation payments software company powering transactions for banks and retailers. This number is expected to grow based on India and Brazil’s explosion, where people make on average 14 and 25 digital payments per month, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To meet these expectations, legacy banks must upgrade to next-generation, AI-ready payment platforms that can handle growing transaction volumes with greater speed, resilience, and reliability. When systems fail, consumer trust erodes. This opens the door for modern, technology-first competitors. As Electrum<\/a> notes, \u201cThe banks that will win in the future are the ones being bold today in modernising their legacy systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n