rashad cassim : south african reserve bank's payments study report launch speaking notes by mr rashad cassim, deputy governor of the south african reserve bank, at the south african reserve bank's payments study report launch, sandton, johannesburg, 5 september 2024. * * * good afternoon, all. thank you for joining us today as we launch the south african reserve bank's ( sarb ) inaugural payments study report. this study is one of our initiatives to better understand the payment system landscape in south africa. it supports our current strategy, vision 2025, which identified a need for the sarb to collect more payments information. in pursuing that goal, we knew we already had extensive information about the supply side of payments. we get this from operating samos, 1 the core interbank payment, real - time gross settlement system. we also receive data from other payment service providers. the payments study report we are launching today, by contrast, is about the demand side of the payment system – the users thereof and their choice of payment methods, including their preferences, level of awareness, usage, reasons for adoption and barriers to entry. the study has two parts. one is a survey of about 45 minutes that just over 3 000 people completed. we call this the survey of consumer payment choice ( scpc ). in the second part of the study, about 4 600 respondents tracked their payment behaviour and payment method usage over a three - month period, using actual payments in a set period of days. this we call the diary of consumer payment choice ( dcpc ). here people documented, among other things, their preferred payment methods, the amounts paid and what the payments were for. the two surveys were conducted nationwide between april and december last year. they were designed to complement each other. indeed, this two - survey approach has also been adopted by other central banks, for instance in australia, poland, sweden and the united states ( us ). 2 and the results make for interesting reading. i do not want to steal the thunder of our next presenter, who will be walking us through the high - level results, but i was struck by several points. for instance, even though the usage of cash is not growing any more, it remains the most popular payment method. debit card usage is second and credit cards a distant third. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches furthermore, while credit cards are mostly used by richer households, which you would expect, there

task. but with collaboration, constant 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches communication, coordination and cooperation, the challenges we face will be easier to hurdle. we at the bsp thank you — our valued stakeholders for ensuring the continuity of policy reforms to guide the economy and shape our banking and financial system into being among the world ’ s most resilient. let us now offer a toast ^. dear pillars of the financial system, fellow public servants, honored guests, friends from the private sector, media and the academe, we at the bsp re - affirm our commitment to our mandates. to continuity + +. we reiterate our gratitude for your partnership and look forward – jointly and collectively – to navigating the future together. cheers! 4 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches