South Africans say goodbye to cash
South Africans increased their digital wallet and virtual card spend by 50% in 2025, while cash usage remained flat, according to Discovery Bank’s SpendTrend26 report.
The report is based on an analysis the bank and payments processor Visa conducted across more than 12 million cards and billions of transactions last year.
The companies also surveyed more than 1,000 South African consumers to better understand their spending habits.
The analysis found that although cash use was “holding steady” in South Africa, cards and digital payments were the preferred payment method for 94% of respondents.
42% of South Africans only used cash a few times in a month, while 23% used cash once a month or not at all. The remaining 32% said they used cash a few times a week or nearly every day.
“This pattern suggests that cash is no longer the default, but rather a fallback option,” Discovery Bank said.
Cash’s usage in South Africa is narrowing to specific practical use cases, including tipping, parking, and taxi payments.
There is also a widespread perception that South Africa will be completely cashless in the near future. 55% of respondents in the survey said they believed this would happen within five years.
For those who use cards for payments, virtual cards and digital wallets like Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, and Samsung Wallet have also become the preferred payment method.
Digital wallets accounted for 30% of spending in the analysis. Discovery Bank also found that the average consumer used them nearly twice as much in 2025 as in 2023.
Virtual cards can be generated within banking apps. They allow users to easily use different cards for online shopping and can be linked to a digital wallet for in-person payments.
If a virtual card’s details are compromised, users can quickly cancel the card and have a new one issued within minutes.
85% of South Africans reported they had a virtual credit or debit card in 2025, up from 80% in 2024. In addition, 73% said they used their virtual card, a substantial increase from 45% in 2024.
57% of respondents said they used virtual cards due to their enhanced security. This was down from 61% that said security was their primary motivator for virtual card usage in 2024.
In 2025, 43% of survey participants said they used virtual cards mainly for convenience, up from 26% in 2024.
Other major banks report digital wallet surge
Many of South Africa’s other major banks have continued to observe substantial increases in digital wallet usage in 2026 compared to previous years.
Earlier in April 2026, Standard Bank told MyBroadband its digital wallet spending had grown 56% year-on-year in the first three months of 2026.
These types of transactions accounted for 13% of total point-of-sale credit card spend, compared to 7% two years ago.
Nedbank also saw digital wallet transaction values increase by 71% in 2025, raising the total share of these transactions to 22% of all card spending.
Absa told MyBroadband its digital wallet growth was sustained over the past year, with more than a 50% increase year-on-year in both volumes and value.
Even in banks where cash transactions were traditionally prevalent, there has been a substantial shift away from notes and coins.
Capitec’s digital payment volumes increased by 25% in its last financial year, while card payment volumes grew 20%.
Digital wallet payments jumped by 103% to R68 billion, significantly outpacing physical card growth of 19% to R608 billion. Digital wallets’ share of card payments increased to 11%.
Although overall cash volumes increased 10%, this was driven primarily by the digital Send Cash feature. Cash payments only increased 4%.
Overall, half of all payments in Capitec’s 2026 financial year were digital, up 25% from the year before.
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