Mastercard has stated that South Africa will be its first market to benefit from real-time card payments.

On Tuesday, October 8, the mentioned giant of the payment industry published a press release, which contains information that this company in the specified country will allow acquiring banks to process transactions in real-time. In this case, payment operations are meant. It was also noted separately in the press release that acquiring banks will be able to use innovative products from Mastercard, enhancements to its network, and strategic partnerships. Also, over time, the company intends to provide the opportunity to process the mentioned payments to issuing banks.

The press release notes that Mastercard has made real-time card payments a key global priority. The company is also currently exploring the possibility of launching a corresponding solution in other regions of the world.

Gabriel Swanepoel, Southern Africa country manager at Mastercard said that as consumer expectations and the needs of businesses change, the firm is ensuring payments meet the evolving speed of customers’ lives.

The press release also contains information according to which, as part of its efforts, the company will introduce new standards and solutions that will speed up the processing of card transactions. Also, it was highlighted that the company laid the groundwork for these changes in South Africa last year by enhancing its network and enabling financial operations to be processed locally.

It is worth noting that the payment industry is currently on an active development trajectory and offers consumers many different solutions. This is important for businesses that are becoming more versatile. There are many B2B, B2C, C2C, C2B examples. The payment industry continues to evolve and scale.