Binance Brings Payment Layer to South Africa's Smart Cities

Binance is helping build the payment layer beneath South Africa's smart cities. Hannes Wessels, General Manager of South Africa at Binance, discussed how his company is addressing everyday financial issues.

The three barriers to using digital finance daily are understanding it, getting started, and the cost of entry. To overcome these, Binance created Binance Academy, a free resource that teaches people about crypto from basics to advanced concepts. The process of starting with Binance now takes minutes instead of days, thanks to ID or passport verification and a simple identity check.

Binance users can start with as little as R50, compared to other platforms requiring deposits of thousands of rands. Wessels emphasized that each barrier works differently and needs separate solutions. He used the example of making payments at the till using Pick n Pay, where shoppers ask for a QR code, scan it through Binance Pay, and complete the payment in 30 seconds.

This approach keeps prices stable by using stablecoins to settle exchanges immediately after payment. Funds in an investment wallet remain separate from those used for everyday spending, with users actively choosing to move them into a payment wallet before making purchases.