About
Built to demystify South African settlement
samos.co.za exists to make the inner workings of South Africa's payment infrastructure accessible to anyone who needs to understand them — without wading through hundreds of pages of policy PDFs.
Who we serve
The site is built for four broad audiences:
- Finance & banking students studying payment systems at South African universities.
- Fintech and payments professionals who need a quick, accurate refresher on how the rails work.
- Treasury, operations, and compliance staff at banks and corporates.
- Journalists and curious readers trying to make sense of news about ISO 20022, PayShap, or the RTGS renewal programme.
How we work
Every article on this site is written to be source-grounded. We rely on publicly available material from the South African Reserve Bank, the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA), BankservAfrica, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and peer-reviewed academic work. Where information could change — for example, modernisation programme dates — we note the date the article was last reviewed.
Editorial standards
- Plain English first. Acronyms are spelled out the first time they appear.
- Comparisons over jargon. Where two systems do similar jobs, we put them side by side.
- Distinguish facts from interpretation. Opinion is labelled.
- Updates are dated. The “Last reviewed” line on each article is the authoritative timestamp.
What we are not
samos.co.za is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the South African Reserve Bank, PASA, BankservAfrica, STRATE, or any settlement participant. We are not a regulator, an industry body, or a financial advisor. Nothing on this site is legal, financial, regulatory, or compliance advice.
Suggesting corrections
If you spot a factual error, an outdated statistic, or a citation that needs updating, please get in touch. Verifiable corrections are applied promptly and acknowledged on the affected article.
Primary sources we cite
- South African Reserve Bank — National Payment System Department publications
- PASA — Payments Association of South Africa annual reports and rule books
- BankservAfrica — operational and product documentation
- STRATE — securities settlement disclosures
- BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) — Red Book and principles for FMIs
- ISO 20022 — published standard documentation