One Code to Rule Them All: SARB’s Plan to Fix South Africa’s Messy QR Payment System

Forget fumbling between different apps at the till. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is on a mission to clean up the country’s fragmented scan-to-pay landscape with a new, unified QR+ Standard. The move aims to end the current hassle where a merchant’s QR code might work with SnapScan but not Zapper or Masterpass, forcing customers to download multiple apps.

This initiative is a key pillar of the SARB’s broader Payments Ecosystem Modernisation (PEM) Programme. The core problem is a lack of interoperability: the three major platformsMasterpass, SnapScan, and Zapperoperate in silos. Unless a merchant displays codes for all systems, the transaction fails, creating friction and stifling adoption.

How QR+ Will Work: A Central “Paylink Registry”

The solution is a technical standard that mandates compatibility. The envisioned system will be anchored by a central Paylink Registry Service, run under a future National Payment Utility. This registry will act as a coordination hub, allowing any compliant payment app to scan and process any QR+ code, regardless of the provider behind it.

“This aims to reduce consumer confusion, lower barriers for entrants and drive financial inclusion,” the SARB stated. The standard has been developed through industry collaboration and will be refined with ongoing feedback.

The Uphill Battle Against Tap-to-Pay’s Boom

The big question is whether this push comes as scan-to-pay is already losing ground to a more seamless alternative: tap-to-pay via digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Wallet, Samsung Pay). This method, which uses NFC technology, is exploding in popularity. Banks like Discovery and Capitec report massive increases in tap transactions, as it’s often faster than opening an app and scanning a code.

Scan-to-pay’s potential advantage lies in online payments, where scanning a QR code on a laptop screen could be quicker than typing card details. However, with most South Africans shopping online via their smartphones, this use case is also limited.

SARB’s QR+ Standard is a necessary infrastructure playa move to streamline and future-proof a payment method by forcing the industry to cooperate. Whether it can reignite consumer interest in scanning over tapping remains to be seen. But for merchants and smaller payment providers, a single, universal QR code could finally mean less complexity and lower costs. In the end, the real winner will be the consumer, who might finally be able to pay with a simple scan, using the app they already have.