Standard Bank wants a bigger share of Africa’s digital payments

Standard Bank is looking to make more money from the payments moving through its African operations. Its latest results show why the bank sees room to grow. Domestic payment values increased by 11% in the first half of 2026. Cross border payment values rose by 7%. Standard Bank accounted for 30% of South Africa’s cross-border payment value and 19% across Africa. That gives the bank a sizeable position in a market where more people and businesses are using digital channels to move money.

More payments mean more opportunities for the bank

Standard Bank is using its payments business to do more than process transactions. Payments can bring deposits into the bank. They can also help it attract merchants and generate fees from cross-border transactions. The bank’s Africa Regions business brought in R10.4 billion ($644.4 million) in headline earnings in the first half of 2026. That was 40% of the group’s headline earnings. Its South African retail business is also seeing more customers move to digital banking. Digital retail transactional clients increased by 9% in the first half. Digital transaction volumes were up 17%. By June, 69% of Standard Bank’s transactional clients were using digital channels.

The bank is putting more technology behind it

Standard Bank is also spending on AI and cloud infrastructure. By June, 72% of its employees were using generative AI tools. The group had approved 87 AI use cases. Its AI recommendation systems were used in more than 10 million personalised client interactions during the first half. The bank has also moved 78% of its computing infrastructure to the cloud. That gives it more capacity to run its digital services and AI tools across the group.

Standard Bank is putting more money into Africa

The bank ended the first half with 19.5 million active clients. Headline earnings increased by 10% to R26.1 billion ($1.6 billion). Return on equity improved to 19.8%. Standard Bank is also adding capital to some of its African businesses. It invested additional capital in Standard Bank Tanzania in July. It plans to increase its stake in Standard Bank Angola in the second half of the year. The bank has identified both markets as areas where it sees room for further growth.

The competition is not only coming from banks

Standard Bank is chasing digital payment flows at a time when fintechs and specialist payment companies are also expanding across Africa. These companies are going after the same customers and transactions. A Mastercard commissioned Genesis Analytics report estimates that Africa’s payments market could reach $1.5 trillion by 2030. Standard Bank already has a significant share of that market. Its challenge now is keeping customers on its platforms while finding more ways to earn from the payments they make. The latest results show where the bank is putting its attention: digital banking, payments, AI and its African operations.