The 2025 South Africa Consumer Payments Report
Explore how South Africans are thinking about preferred payment methods, where to shop and the overall checkout experience.
Introduction
South Africa’s payments landscape continues to evolve rapidly. Consumer demand for faster, safer and more convenient ways to pay has fuelled the growth of alternative payment methods, as well as better and more personalised purchase experiences and greater indicators of security and data protection.
In our latest consumer report, we surveyed ~2000 South Africans to understand their latest payment preferences and behaviours, as well as what they consider positive or negative checkout experiences and what might drive better retention.
Key findings
New and alternative payment methods are cutting into the lead once held by traditional methods, across sectors.
One-click methods including Apple, Google and Samsung Pay are gaining adoption more quickly than most other methods have before.
Innovation in payments experiences and offerings is being leveraged as a differentiator for businesses in increasingly competitive industries.
Buy Now Pay Later is growing in demand for higher-value retail purchases.
Security indicators and instant experiences are now table stakes for enabling consumer confidence.
The state of new and alternative payment methods at checkout
High willingness to adopt new and alternative payment methods
More than 90% of survey respondents indicated they have tried or used a new payment method outside of cash and card in the last year.
Payment methods used for the first time in the last year
What customers are saying
The rise of Apple, Google and Samsung Pay
Apple, Google and Samsung Pay are rapidly rising as preferred payment methods, both at POS and online, due to their convenient and secure experience.
Which digital wallet do South African consumers use most?
Case study
Apple Pay sees instant converts when launched at e-commerce checkout
Within a week of launching on one of the largest online retail sites in South Africa with Stitch, Apple Pay was used for > 33% of orders made by customers with Apple devices, and 10% of all orders on the site. Within two weeks, that number was above 40% for Apple users. Uptake on the day of launch was nearly 20%.
Further, the conversion rate for Apple Pay has been well over 90% – well above that of card. Today, 50% of Apple Pay transactions are processed in < 3 seconds from initiation, and 95% are processed within 5 seconds from initiation.
Notably, 56% of consumers indicated that their choice in e-commerce platform or shop is impacted by the ability to pay quickly and easily. Introducing one-click payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay is quickly becoming a baseline requirement for any online merchant.
of Apple users switched to Apple Pay in 2 weeks
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How traditional payment methods are faring
How traditional payment methods are faring
From ongoing preference for cash, to continued dominance of card payments in-store and online, traditional payment methods still hold a significant place for South African consumers.
Consumers perceive negative experiences with debit order
Particularly in the insurance space, dissatisfaction with debit order handling has been a topic of conversation online among consumers.
Issues with debit order payments for insurance premiums centre around unauthorised debits, billing errors, continued charges post-cancellation and delays receiving refunds from erroneous charges.
Source: DataEQ
Sentiment around the debit order payments experience in the insurance space
Perspectives on debit order from online conversations *DataEQ
Case study
Stitch improves DebiCheck processing for major collections business
Stitch conducted a time-bound POC with a major collections-based business in South Africa, to see if we could help them improve their collections rates and reduce bank fees.
After cleaning their data and understanding the reasons for failed collections, we were able to collect on 74% of previously uncollectable mandates. This resulted in more funds collected, lower fees from failed transaction attempts and a reduction in operational overhead.
Failure reasons
Consumer payments preferences: top preferred methods
Some insights from e-commerce and retail-related payments preferences:
Cards are still king
for food-related commerce, apparel and household goods where speed and reliability matter
Bank-based methods are increasingly relevant,
even in fast-turnaround commerce. Pay by bank and Capitec Pay are 2nd and 3rd most preferred for online purchases
Cash-on-delivery is still a significant fallback for ~10% of respondents.
This signals ongoing trust gaps in digital transactions and accessibility issues.
Which of the following payment methods do you most prefer for online groceries or food purchases?
For purchases of online food + groceries, as well as apparel and household items, preference for alternative methods such as Pay by bank (18%), Capitec Pay (13%) and digital wallets (6%) is steadily growing, taking on card’s lead at 34%.
Growing demand for new methods at POS
Unsurprisingly, card remains the most popular method for in-person purchases. Newer methods, however, such as Capitec Pay, Pay by bank and wallets like Apple, Google and Samsung Pay also now represent a significant portion of preferred methods, even for in-person payments. These were collectively selected by 25% of consumers.
Which of the following payment methods do you most prefer for in-store purchases?
Indicators of safety and security
Indicators of safety and security
Fraud prevention and security measures such as 2-factor authentication (2FA), OTPs and biometric authentication all indicate that the merchant they are paying has taken appropriate steps to ensure payment security – even if these initiatives add an extra step in the payment process.
What makes you feel an online payment is safe?
What customers are saying
The makings of a competitive checkout experience
The makings of a competitive checkout experience
When asked what, if anything, would convince consumers to choose one online shopping platform over another, if they were offering similar products at a similar price, more than 56% indicated a fast, easy payment process would be a game changer.
We asked consumers what they believe are the ingredients that made a checkout experience memorably positive overall.
What matters most for a good online checkout experience?
Omnichannel retailers are driving positive experiences, both online and in store
Brands like TFG’s Bash are leaders in the South African ecosystem when it comes to creating a true omnichannel offering for consumers. Bash is innovating across the retail journey to bring data-driven personalisation and a seamless payments experience to the TFG shopper, whether they’re engaging with the brand in store, online or on mobile.
Case study
How Stitch supports Bash with innovative payments solutions across channels
Stitch powers both online and in-person payments for TFG’s Bash, supporting them across multiple methods and enabling the same seamless payments experience, whether a customer is shopping online or in store.
"Payments is largely around accessibility. So the more ways to pay, the more segments of customers are able to shop. Our payments ecosystem is interesting because in our store environment, it’s all in-person payments – cash, card – and online it’s typical gateway methods – Pay by bank, card, etc. What we’re doing alongside Stitch is building an orchestration model that allows both sets of payments to be used in both environments”
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"We’ve been able to launch products really quickly, but also get them to scale fast with Bash, and that’s been such a treat. As the Bash team starts to do more in person, more online, more omnichannel, that’s where we want to go - supporting businesses that straddle all these channels. We’re excited to see where they’re going next”
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