The silent transformation of cross-border payments

The clock is ticking on cross-border payment reform. With the SARB's new directive now in motion and the FSB warning that progress has been painfully slow, banks and fintechs have a rare opportunity - turn compliance into innovation and finally deliver on the promise of inclusion.

By Steve UMIDHA On Nov 18, 2025

By Monica MUEMA

This year’s Financial Stability Board (FSB) progress report on cross-border payments arrived with a familiar frustration: despite significant policy advances, “tangible improvements for end-users” remain frustratingly out of reach. For Southern Africa, that gap between what we’ve promised and what people actually experience is now impossible to ignore.

In April, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) issued Directive No. 1 of 2025, requiring all low-value cross-border electronic fund transfers (EFTs) within the Common Monetary Area (CMA) – South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini and Namibia – to migrate to the Transactions Cleared on an Immediate Basis (TCIB) scheme by March 2027.

On the surface, it looks like a technical adjustment – just another back-end shift in payment routing. But dig deeper and the implications become clear. This marks the end of an era where millions of people had no choice but to rely on cash couriers, bus drivers, and informal money agents to send funds home or pay small suppliers across borders.

“This is a genuine modernization milestone,” says Tinu Elenjical, Founder and CEO of Elenjical Solutions, a consultancy helping banks modernize trading and payment systems across Africa and globally . “For far too long, the smallest payments have been the hardest to move. TCIB changes that.”

From cash couriers to connected systems

TCIB is a retail-level, real-time payment rail designed to move small cross-border transactions quickly and affordably. It connects banks, fintechs and mobile money operators across the SADC region, offering a unified alternative to SADC-RTGS – which was never designed for low-value transfers in the first place.

“The people who stand to benefit most are those who’ve been invisible to formal finance for years,” Elenjical explains. “Domestic workers, micro-traders, small suppliers – they’ve been either priced out or slowed down by systems that weren’t built for them. Now, they can move money instantly and safely.”

For small and medium-sized enterprises, the shift is just as transformative. Instant settlement improves cash flow, eases the strain on working capital, and supports faster trade cycles -critical advantages in a region where SMEs are the backbone of the economy.

The business opportunity behind regulation

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While the directive sets a firm deadline, it also unlocks real commercial potential. Banks and fintechs that move early can capture market share by offering instant cross-border payments and SME trade tools that simply didn’t exist before. Elenjical Solutions is already working with several institutions to navigate the transition – tackling data integration, interoperability challenges and helping them align legacy infrastructure with modern digital rails.

“We’ve seen how payment transformation works elsewhere,” Elenjical notes. “It’s never just about the technology – it’s about collaboration. Regulators, banks and fintechs need to align on data standards, architecture and shared goals.”

Those investing now in scalable, API-driven systems won’t just comply with TCIB – they’ll also be ready for continental integration via the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).

A bridge to the AfCFTA era

The timing couldn’t be more significant. Under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), PAPSS is expanding to enable instant settlement in local currencies across participating nations. TCIB is effectively SADC’s bridge into that broader network. Once PAPSS and TCIB interconnect, we’ll have the infrastructure for a truly African payment grid – where a business in Windhoek can pay a supplier in Accra instantly, without ever touching the US dollar.

The countdown to compliance

With less than two years before the 2027 deadline, institutions are feeling the pressure to migrate. But Elenjical believes the next 18 months will separate the leaders from the laggards.

“The winners will be those who see this not as a box-ticking exercise, but as a genuine chance to innovate,” he says. “They’ll develop products that serve real people – affordable remittances, instant SME payments, regional e-commerce tools.”