CROSS-BORDER PAYMENT FACILITATORS: INPUT SOUGHT ON REGULATORY PROPOSALS

CROSS-BORDER PAYMENT FACILITATORS: INPUT SOUGHT ON REGULATORY PROPOSALS

• 25 June 2026
• Financial Sector
• SA Legal Academy

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has called for input by 17 July 2026 on two sets of proposals for regulating cross-border payment facilitators operating ‘under sponsorship arrangements with authorised domestic acquirers’. The documents concerned are entitled:

• ‘draft directive for conduct within the national payment system in respect of issuing and acquiring payment for goods and services provided by offshore merchants’, and
• ‘draft exchange control circular’ introducing a cross-border retail e-commerce regulatory framework.

According to the covering notice, these proposals are made in the context of ongoing efforts to develop a ‘co-ordinated’ approach towards regulating domestically aggregated payment e-commerce transactions for goods, services and digital products purchased from offshore merchants.

By supporting the ‘effective oversight of payment models that span both the domestic payment system and cross‑border foreign exchange considerations’, a co-ordinated approach is expected to:

• ensure that regulatory requirements are applied consistently, and
• ‘reduce the risk of regulatory arbitrage’.

Please click the links below for more information:

• SARB cover note
• draft directive
• draft exchange control circular

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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