South Africa Mobile Money Fees
VodaPay, MTN, Mukuru - including all government levies. Updated July 2026.
How much does it cost to send money via mobile money in South Africa?
In South Africa, mobile money fees vary by operator (VodaPay, MTN, Mukuru) and amount band. Use the calculator below for the exact cost in ZAR, including government levies. Typical fees range from flat unit amounts to a percentage of the transfer; withdrawals usually add a separate charge.
Compare VodaPay, MTN, Mukuru fees in South Africa
| Provider | Send | Withdraw | Levy | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
VPVodaPayCheapest | Free | R13.00 | None | Free |
MTNMTN | R7.50 | R7.50 | None | R7.50 |
MKMukuru | R20.00 | R15.00 | None | R20.00 |
Which mobile money providers work in South Africa?
VodaPay (Vodacom)
South Africa · ZAR
Send money fees
| Free tier | Free |
Withdrawal fees
| R10+ | R8 + 1% |
MTN MoMo
South Africa · ZAR
Send money fees
| R1-R500 | 1.5% |
| R501-R1,000 | 1% |
| R1,001+ | 0.5% |
Withdrawal fees
| R1+ | 1.5% |
ZAR exchange rates
Livevs ZAR (South African Rand)
Tax framework
No mobile money levy
Fee data last verified July 2026. Always confirm with your provider before large transactions.
Send money to someone without a bank account: compare the bank wallets
In South Africa, mobile money runs mostly through the banks: each bank has a cellphone "cash send" product that the recipient withdraws as cash at a till or ATM, with no account. Here are the 2026 fees (sourced from the banks' own pricing guides, dated) — send, ATM withdrawal and supermarket-till withdrawal.
| Product | Send fee | ATM withdrawal | Till withdrawal | PayShap | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capitec Send Cash → | verify in-app — Capitec's 2026 guide does not publish a separate Send Cash send fee, and third-party figures conflict; the cost is the withdrawal below | R10 per R1,000 at any SA bank ATM | R2.00 flat at a supermarket till | up to R100 free; then R1 Capitec-to-Capitec / R2 to another bank (exact tiers: verify) | eff. 1 March 2026 (Capitec personal-banking-fees-2026) |
| FNB eWallet → | R11 if you send R500 or less, R30 if more than R500 (from an FNB account); the wallet-to-wallet "eWallet eXtra" send is R10 | 1 free withdrawal per payment received (max 4), then R11–R12 per R1,000 (FNB's own docs list both figures) | no charge at a retail till on the standard eWallet (Pick n Pay, Checkers, Shoprite, Usave, PEP, Ackermans) | R3.50 to another bank / R1 FNB-to-FNB (transactional account) | eff. 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027 (FNB Pricing Guide) |
| Standard Bank Instant Money → | R10 (voucher R50–R499), R20 (R500–R999), R30 (R1,000–R5,000); create at a PEP/SPAR retailer for R9.95 flat | free (R0) to the recipient — no cash-out fee | free to redeem at Boxer, Checkers, PEP, Pick n Pay, Shoprite, SPAR, Shop2Shop and more | R2 flat per transaction, any amount up to R3,000 | eff. 1 January 2026 (InstantMoney Pricing Guide 2026) |
| Absa CashSend → | R2.70 per R100 (or part thereof) | no separate withdrawal fee published — the cost sits with the sender (verify) | collect at an Absa ATM, Pick n Pay or Boxer | R2 to a PayShap ID / R5.50 to a bank account | eff. 1 January 2026 (Absa Internet Banking pricing) |
| Nedbank Send iMali (Pay-to-cellphone) → | R12 per R1,000 (or part thereof); some accounts include 1–2 free per month | free (R0) to the recipient at a Nedbank ATM | collect at a Nedbank ATM (cardless) | Pay-to-ShapID free (R0.50 on one entry account) / Pay-to-account R10 | eff. 1 January – 31 December 2026 (Nedbank Everyday Banking fees) |
| TymeBank SendMoney → | R10 per transaction; free if the recipient is a TymeBank customer | no extra fee — recipient collects the full voucher value in cash | collect at Pick n Pay, Boxer or TFG tills (10-digit voucher, valid 7 days) | free via a ShapID (up to R5,000) — the cheapest PayShap in SA; receiver always free | verified live March 2026 (TymeBank SendMoney help page) |
The money-saver: withdraw at a supermarket TILL, not an ATM. On Capitec, a Send Cash till withdrawal is R2 (Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Checkers, Boxer, PEP) versus R10 per R1,000 at an ATM. On FNB, the standard eWallet till withdrawal is free. On Standard Bank Instant Money and Nedbank Send iMali, withdrawal is free outright — the whole cost is the send fee.
PayShap: the instant bank-to-bank rail, compared
PayShap settles an instant payment to a cellphone ("ShapID") or an account, across banks, up to R3,000. The price varies sharply by bank — from free to over R5 — and almost nobody compares it.
| Bank | PayShap fee | Free under | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| TymeBank | Free via ShapID (≤ R5,000) | all (ShapID) | 2026 |
| Standard Bank | R2 flat (≤ R3,000) | — | 1 Jan 2026 |
| Capitec | R1 internal / R2 external | ≤ R100 free | 1 Mar 2026 |
| Absa | R2 to ShapID / R5.50 to account | — | 1 Jan 2026 |
| Nedbank | ShapID free (R0.50 one tier) / account R10 | ShapID free | 1 Jan 2026 |
| FNB | R3.50 to another bank / R1 FNB-to-FNB | none published | 1 Jul 2026 |
| Discovery Bank | tiered (~R1 ≤R100, ~R5 ≤R1,000, ~0.5% above) — verify | 30 free/mo on some tiers | 2026 |
| Investec | free ≤ R500, then R6 — verify | ≤ R500 | 2026 |
TymeBank (free via ShapID) is the cheapest; Standard Bank and Absa cut to ~R2 in early 2026. Fees marked "verify" are not reliably published — confirm in-app.
Common questions about sending money in South Africa
How much is a cash send from Capitec?
The real cost is the withdrawal: R2 at a supermarket till, or R10 per R1,000 at an ATM (2026 guide, effective 1 March 2026). Capitec's 2026 guide does not publish a separate Send Cash send fee — check the exact amount in-app before sending.
How much to send money from FNB to Capitec?
A transfer between bank accounts goes over PayShap or EFT. On PayShap, FNB charges R3.50 to another bank; on the receive side Capitec charges nothing. A normal EFT is often free or low-cost — check in your FNB app.
What is the maximum amount on eWallet?
eWallet limits depend on your FICA verification level and change with FNB's guide — confirm the exact limit in the FNB app or at *120*277#. The standard eWallet sends from an FNB account; eWallet eXtra works wallet-to-wallet.
What happened to MTN MoMo in South Africa?
MTN MoMo is live and growing in South Africa. It was shut in SA in September 2016 (commercial non-viability), relaunched in January 2020, reached 13 million registered SA users by April 2025, and in mid-2026 MTN is rebuilding MoMo into an Alipay/Ant-powered super app. The common belief that "MoMo shut down in SA in 2024" is wrong — it is a mix-up with the 2016 shutdown. (Engineering News (13m users, 18 Apr 2025); TechCentral (Ant super-app, 9 Jun 2026))
And VodaPay? VodaPay is live and expanding. Rather than winding it down, Vodacom folded the My Vodacom app's services INTO VodaPay, making it Vodacom SA's single super-app; group financial-services super apps reached 9.4 million active users (+40% YoY) in FY2026.
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