Cash and debit cards in South Africa’s 2023 payment diaries
Cash made up 56% of payments by count in the South African Reserve Bank’s 2023 payment diaries and 21% of their value. Debit cards accounted for 34% of payments and 55% of the rand value. The average debit card payment was R768.20, about 3.7 times the R208.44 average for cash. SARB Payments Study executive summary, Tables 5 and 6, pages 9 and 11
By Freepaid · Published
What people paid with
The first two rows use all payments in the diary as their base. The last two show the average rand amount for each payment method overall and for groceries. The diary includes payments by other methods, so the cash and debit card shares cover only part of the total.
| Measure | Cash | Debit card |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated share of payment count | 56% | 34% |
| Estimated share of payment value | 21% | 55% |
| Average payment | R208.44 | R768.20 |
| Average grocery payment | R211.88 | R717.54 |
Freepaid calculated the overall ratio by dividing R768.20 by R208.44. Grocery payments show a similar pattern. The average debit card grocery payment was about 3.4 times the cash average. The averages come from different payments and can reflect differences in what people bought. SARB Payments Study executive summary, Tables 5 and 6 and grocery comparison, pages 9 and 11
Phone and data payments averaged R59 in cash
For payments that the study grouped under cellphone or data, the chart shows an average of R59 in cash and R294 by debit card, rounded to whole rand. The category covers phone and data spending together. The figures describe payments in that category. A retailer who wants to understand airtime top-ups specifically would need sales records that identify the product alongside the payment method. SARB Payments Study full report, Figure 26, page 20 · Figure 35, page 25
How the Reserve Bank counted payments
The Reserve Bank published the study in September 2024. The diary part ran between June and December 2023 and captured 210,207 payments from 4,624 participants. Participants tracked their payments in several three-day windows. The Reserve Bank applied survey weights when it calculated the estimates. The figures are a national survey snapshot from that period. SARB Payments Study executive summary, methodology, page 2 · SARB release, 5 September 2024
For a shop selling prepaid products, counting sales and adding up receipts answer different questions. The first shows how often customers pay each way. The second shows how much money the shop handles through each method. An outlet can get both measures from the same till report by separating airtime, data and electricity from its other sales.
Sources
The figures come from the South African Reserve Bank’s Diary of Consumer Payment Choice. Freepaid calculated the ratios between average debit card and cash payments. SARB Payments Study and report downloads
Last source check · 3 November 2026.