Author: Chris Anu

Standard Bank has slashed PayShap transaction fees to a flat rate of just R2 for any amount transferred up to the R3 000 limit. The move makes Standard Bank the second cheapest bank for instant payments powered by the PayShap payment rails, with TymeBank still leading the sector by charging no fees on PayShap transactions. “On PayShap, Standard Bank has significantly reduced fees for customers making payments to recipients with active PayShap IDs. These transactions will carry a flat fee of R2/transaction, regardless of the amount,” Standard Bank said in a statement on Tuesday. Standard Bank’s decision to slash PayShap fees…

Eventbrite is a global events marketplace that serves event creators and event-goers in nearly 180 countries. Since its inception, Eventbrite has been at the center of the experience economy, transforming the way people organize and attend events. The company was founded by Julia Hartz, Kevin Hartz, and Renaud Visage, with a vision to build a self-service platform that empowers anyone to host and discover live experiences. In 2024, Eventbrite distributed over 83 million paid tickets to over 4.7 million events, helping people find new things to do or new ways to do more of what they love. Eventbrite has also…

State-owned roads agency Sanral has announced it is ending support for magnetic stripe-based payments at all toll gates across South Africa. Motorists will now only be able to use the more secure tap-to-pay and chip-and-Pin methods on the country’s national roads. (Cash is also accepted.) “This solution … has been designed to accept tap-enabled EMV bank cards as well as wallets that are linked to these bank cards,” said Gert Botha, toll network manager at Sanral. Magstripe fraud and the security risk of offline magstripe transactions has been growing steadily “These options are available for online processing, where the device…

Siren, the all-in-one investigation company, today announced a strategic investment from Elastic (NYSE: ESTC), the company behind Elasticsearch. Siren, the all-in-one investigation company, today announced a strategic investment from Elastic (NYSE: ESTC), the company behind Elasticsearch. The investment deepens a decade-long partnership between the two companies and accelerates development of Siren’s AI-driven platform, including Siren’s newly launched K9 AI Companion, used by national security, law enforcement, and financial crime agencies worldwide. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251202354147/en/The partnership combines the Elasticsearch Platform, which delivers real-time search, retrieval and anomaly detection across structured, unstructured, and streaming…

The start of year found PayShap firmly embedded in any payment conversation. When it launched in 2023, everyone in the landscape was asking: would it scale effectively, would consumers embrace it and would banks fully participate? Now, at the end of 2025, consumer interest has grown. But are transaction volumes as expected. Operated by PayInc (formerly BankservAfrica), PayShap has processed more than 461 million transactions worth about R403-billion since its debut. Yet as 2025 closes, there are plenty of discussions around fees, inclusion and bank adoption. Finch Technologies and Slant (South African data aggregators) set out to explore these dynamics:…

The Magnificent Seven shares are worth more than $20 trillion. (Graphic by Nicola Mawson) Share prices of the so-called “Magnificent Seven” stocks – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, NVIDIA and Tesla – have soared since they listed, even when accounting for share splits that have diluted their values over the years.Every one of them are among the top 10 most valuable companies on US bourses. Combined, these seven companies are now worth a staggering $20.09 trillion (R344.4 trillion) – more than the GDP of every country except the United States.The term Magnificent Seven was coined by Bank of America…

Julia Finnis-Bedford Pressure on Cape Town’s film industry is rising beyond the threats by the mercurial US President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on films produced outside America. Artificial intelligence is giving creators the ability to synthesise landscapes that would otherwise require productions to be on location, leading to a decrease in the number of productions opting for location shoots, and consequently the number of shoots taking place in South Africa. “Some of the feedback I have had from clients in terms of what is happening in the industry is that big clients that they have had in the past…

Technology is touted as making the game of rugby safer. The South African Rugby Union (SARU) and Vodacom United Rugby Championship(URC) are deriving value from technology-driven insights that help improve the game and ensure player safety. This came to light during an event in Fourways last week, where Samsung SA announced its partnership with SARU and the Vodacom United Rugby Championship(URC). Speaking to ITWeb on the sidelines of the event, SARU president Mark Alexander said technology plays a “major” role for the Springboks team. “We use a system called Outfox where we plot and analyse every game. We have a…

DStv parent MultiChoice Group on Monday sent a warning to its subscribers: that 12 Warner Bros Discovery-owned channels could be removed from all DStv bouquets in the coming weeks should the two parties fail to reach a new distribution agreement. In a letter, which was sent as an on-screen pop up and e-mail to DStv customers, MultiChoice said it will continue to strive to give customers an “exceptional entertainment package”, whether a new deal is struck or not. “The distribution agreement between MultiChoice and Warner Bros Discovery is scheduled to end on 31 December 2025. While discussions between the parties…

From left: Albertus Willem van Niekerk, Dzunisa Chauke, Ismaail Hassen and Milla Vorster. Four young scientists will showcase their award-winning innovations at the World Innovative Science Project Olympiad in Bali, Indonesia, from 10 to 13 December.The selected young scientists are: Dzunisa Chauke, a grade 12 pupil from Khanyisa Education Centre; Milla Vorster, grade 11 at Curro Durbanville in Stellenbosch; Ismaail (Miles) Hassen, grade 11 at Greenside High School in Johannesburg; and Albertus Willem (Wium) van Niekerk, grade 10 at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch. The Olympiad is an international science fair held annually in Indonesia, organised by the Indonesia Scientific…