Store-to-store domestic money transfers – South Africa’s retailers compared

A significant portion of South Africans remain unbanked and these individuals require different ways to transfer money to friends, family, and colleagues.

Many of South Africa’s top retailers are aware of this and have filled the “unbanked” gap by allowing customers to transfer money between their outlets.

Pick n Pay recently joined the list of retailers that have launched money transfer services in South Africa, with their service available at all Pick n Pay supermarkets, Pick n Pay Clothing stores, and Boxer stores – totalling over 1,400 outlets nationwide.

The minimum transfer amount is R50, while the daily and monthly transfer limits are R3,000 and R25,000, respectively.

Pricing comparison

Pick n Pay stated that it has implemented an R8 flat rate per transaction through its money transfer service. This means that even if you max out your daily limit of R3,000 in one transaction, you will only pay an R8 fee.

To see how this fees compares to what is currently available in the market, we looked at the money transfer services offered by other retailers in South African and noted their transaction fees.

Five local retailers currently offer this service:

• Mr Price
• Shoprite / Checkers
• Pep
• Massmart
• Pick n Pay /Boxer

Our research found that Pick n Pay’s new money transfer service is the most affordable in South Africa.

It was followed by the Mr Price service, which charges R8.50 per transaction – while Shoprite / Checkers, Pep, and Massmart all charge nearly R10 per transaction.

The transaction rates are listed below:

• Pick n Pay/Boxer – R8.00
• Mr Price – R8.50
• Shoprite / Checkers – R9.90
• Massmart – R9.95
• Pep – R9.99

It must be noted that all the retailers offer a flat per-transaction rate – regardless of the size of the transfer – and all provide a relatively affordable service for unbanked South Africans.

However, the extra savings from Pick n Pay / Boxer of nearly R2 per transaction will be highly compelling to most users – particularly when conducting smaller money transfers.

This, combined with the large number of Pick n Pay and Boxer outlets across South Africa, puts the Pick n Pay service in a position to perform strongly in the local market.