South Africa’s Reserve Bank wants to turn every ATM in the country into a white-label ATM: one shared machine network, owned by a new national cash utility, carrying the same branding, and offering the same basic services whatever bank your card comes from. That includes the ATMs at bank branches. The plan was presented to banks and cash firms in May, and its timeline moves ATMs under the utility’s control during 2027.
The short version
It is a proposal, not a done deal, but it shows where cash in South Africa is heading and why your ATM costs may change.
- The Reserve Bank’s proposed model has the national cash utility owning 100% of South Africa’s ATMs, including bank branch ATMs.
- Every machine would offer withdrawals, balance checks, mini-statements, deposits and cardless withdrawals, 24 hours a day.
- The Reserve Bank says using cash costs South Africans about R90 billion a year, which works out to roughly R1,400 for every person in the country.
- Its plan says costs would be recovered from banks, with a focus on affordability rather than charges on each transaction.
- No fee schedule has been published, and the industry rulebook is not due in final form until June 2027.
What are white-label ATMs in South Africa supposed to change?
A white-label ATM has no bank’s name on it. Under the model in the Reserve Bank’s May 2026 Cash Smart presentation, all ATMs would be owned by the National Cash Utility and carry its branding. Some would be run by the utility itself, some by independent operators under concession, and some by service firms working for the utility. Cash-in-transit companies would service machines if they meet the utility’s standards.
The services listed for every machine are withdrawals, balance enquiries, mini-statements, cash deposits, and cardless withdrawals for your own account and within your bank, for banknotes and coins, 24 hours a day.
Why the Reserve Bank wants one network
Money. The Reserve Bank’s position paper, Towards a Cash Smart Society, puts the yearly cost of cash at about R90 billion, a cost it says ends up with consumers. Using Stats SA’s mid-2026 population estimate of about 63.5 million, that is roughly R1,400 per person each year.
Fees are only part of it. The paper splits what consumers pay like this:
- Fees: 35%
- Time spent travelling to get cash: 31%
- Travel costs: 14%
- Losses, including crime: 13%
- Getting cash from retailers: 4%
- The cost of holding cash instead of earning on it: 3%
The real shift: today each bank pays to run its own ATM network, often in the same busy spots, while rural areas go without. The presentation lists duplicate networks, rural coverage gaps, cash-in-transit costs, ATM crime and the “disloyalty fees” charged when you use another bank’s machine as the problems the plan is meant to fix.
Will ATM fees go away?
Not stated. The Reserve Bank’s answer in the presentation is that costs would be recovered from card issuers, meaning banks, with a “focus on affordability and transparency, not transaction-level customer charges.” That points to fewer fees per withdrawal, but there is no published price list yet, and banks will have their say during consultation.
When could this happen?
- 2026: an assessment of costs, distances, cash deserts and a transition plan.
- 2027: the white-label blueprint is finalised, the utility is funded, and ATMs move to its control. A draft industry rulebook is due in January 2027, with consultation from January to May and a final version in June.
- 2028: all ATMs move to the white-label standard.
- 2029: machines are moved or added based on where people are underserved or overserved.
What we don’t know yet
How much a withdrawal will cost, whether banks accept full utility ownership of their machines, and what happens to features that only your own bank’s ATM offers today. The Reserve Bank says the move will come with consumer education and that service must keep running during the switch.
For now, nothing changes at the machine. Keep using your bank’s app to find its own ATMs if you want to avoid out-of-network fees, and watch for the draft rulebook early in 2027. If you use mobile money too, our guide to protecting your account from SIM swap fraud is worth five minutes, and you can see how banks in Ghana are now collecting a digital services tax for another way regulators are changing how people pay.
