Pick n Pay and Spar say they are seeing clear signs that South Africans are moving away from using cash in stores, with electronic and card-based payments rising sharply across the retail sector.

Many shoppers may have already noticed the shift, as some supermarkets have scaled back the number of cash-handling tills. MyBroadband asked Woolworths, Spar, Shoprite, and Pick n Pay whether they intend to stop accepting cash altogether.

Pick n Pay’s head of value-added and financial services, Deven Moodley, said the retailer has recorded a significant drop in cash purchases over the past few years.

“Cash transactions declined by 10%, while digital and card payments continued to climb — signalling the ongoing evolution of how customers choose to pay,” he said.

Despite the downward trend, Moodley stressed that cash remains a crucial tender type in South Africa. Pick n Pay, he added, is not planning to remove cash-enabled tills.

He also highlighted the importance of in-store banking to the retailer’s value-added services strategy. “We aim to give customers a wide range of payment options, from our Store Account to digital wallets, while still supporting the shift toward a less-cash environment,” he said.

Spar, which operates on a decentralised model where individual store owners make decisions about operations, offered a similar view.
According to national PR and communications manager Mpudi Maubane, each retailer chooses the payment mix that best suits its local community.

“Digital and card payments are gaining traction because they are convenient and secure, but cash remains essential for many South Africans,” Maubane said.

He added that Spar has no plans to stop accepting cash. “Cash is still deeply woven into the daily lives of our shoppers. Going cashless would shut out customers in areas where cash is the most practical and trusted option.”

Instead, Spar’s focus is to keep payment options broad and accessible, balancing innovation with inclusivity. Shoprite and Woolworths had not responded to questions at the time of publishing, although Woolworths attracted attention last year when its WCafé outlets went cashless.

South Africans embracing digital payments — but cash still dominates informal trade

Although cash has historically been the backbone of the informal economy, new data shows this is beginning to shift. A recent snap survey by Yebo Fresh of 2,769 spaza stores and 20 midi wholesalers revealed fast-growing adoption of card payment systems in township retail.

According to the survey, a few service providers dominate the space — notably Flash, Kazang, and Shop2Shop. Shop2Shop was used by all midi wholesalers surveyed, while other tools such as Blue Label, Yoco, A2Pay, and Ikhokha were also present.

Flash was found to be the most widespread operator across provinces. While Gauteng had the most shops surveyed, spaza stores in the Western Cape carried the highest average number of payment devices per shop. Larger stores, unsurprisingly, use more devices — between 1.4 and 2.1 on average.

Yebo Fresh CEO Jessica Boonstra said the appeal of these platforms is tied to the sale of value-added services like airtime, electricity, data, DStv payments, and betting — all of which are major revenue drivers for spaza shops.

However, she emphasised that despite rising digital adoption, cash remains dominant. “Customers still overwhelmingly prefer to pay in cash, which means spaza shops usually pay their suppliers in cash as well,” Boonstra said.

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