SA Open Banking: BRC Timelines Are Slipping — Here's the Cost

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    SA Open Banking: BRC Timelines Are Slipping — Here's the Cost

    The Banking Association's roadmap targeted account-information APIs for Q4 2025. Only 3 of 10 large banks have shipped. What the delay is doing to fintech growth.

    IdeaToola Research 2 May 2026 6 min read

    Key Findings

    • 1The Banking Association's roadmap targeted account-information APIs for Q4 2025. Only 3 of 10 large banks have shipped. What the delay is doing to fintech growth.

    Overview

    Only 3 of SA's 10 largest retail banks published production Account Information Service (AIS) APIs by the BASA/BRC target date of Dec 2025 .

    "Who has shipped Investec, Standard Bank (business only), and Discovery Bank have live AIS endpoints."

    57% of Sub-Saharan African adults remain unbanked — representing the world's largest financial inclusion opportunity.

    Mobile-first fintech platforms are uniquely positioned to capture this 350M+ person market.


    Why this matters now

    The SARB's Vision 2025 committed to an open-finance framework by end-2025. National Treasury's Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill, tabled Q4 2025, empowers the FSCA to mandate open APIs if industry self-regulation fails to deliver.

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