Transfers inside the same South African bank typically post within seconds; transfers between banks can take anywhere from a few hours to two business days, and a new instant-payments rail now makes real-time movement possible 24/7 for participating institutions. That gap — seconds versus days — is what matters when rent is due, an invoice must clear, or a payroll run has to land on payday.
The rest of this piece explains why those timing differences exist, which systems move money, how bank cut-off times and payment types change the outcome, and what to do when urgency matters. By the end you will be able to tell, for a given payment, whether to expect instant credit, same-day arrival, or a delay measured in business days.
There are three practical rails you need to know. The first is internal bank posting: when you move money between your accounts at the same bank, the ledger update is performed inside a single system and the funds appear almost immediately — usually within seconds or a few minutes. The second is the retail interbank route often called an EFT; banks exchange batches or settlement instructions and the receiving bank posts the credit once it receives settlement. Those transfers traditionally clear within the same business day if sent before the bank's cut-off, otherwise the posting can slip to the next business day, and in exceptional cases take up to two business days.
Third is the high-value and real-time infrastructure. Large-value payments use the real-time gross settlement mechanism overseen by the South African Reserve Bank and are settled individually and almost instantly during operating hours. Since 2023 South Africa also has a national instant-payments overlay that allows near-instant transfers between participating banks outside regular hours, on weekends and public holidays. The arrival times you see depend on which of these rails your payment uses.
If you transfer money between two accounts at the same bank, expect clearance in seconds. That is the simplest case: no interbank messaging, no settlement queue. If the transfer is interbank and routed as a standard EFT, the usual experience is completion on the same business day when initiated well before the bank's EFT cut-off. Most banks operate a same-day EFT cut-off between roughly 14:00 and 16:00; payments sent after that window often post the next business day. Salary runs and batch payrolls generally require files to be submitted 24 to 72 hours ahead, which is why employers ask for lead time.
When urgency is non-negotiable, two options are common. One is a real-time gross settlement payment for high-value items; those settle individually and do not wait for batch processing, so they clear quickly during RTGS operating hours. The other is the instant-payments system introduced in 2023, which lets customers move smaller amounts in real time between participating banks, 24 hours a day. Adoption is growing, but not every bank or account type is live on the instant rail yet, so check whether both payer and payee banks participate.
"South Africa launched a national instant-payments platform in 2023, enabling near-instant transfers between participating banks," according to reporting on the rollout.
Business days matter. Banks treat cut-off times as the line that separates same-day processing from next-day queues. If you initiate an interbank EFT before that line — often between 14:00 and 16:00 depending on the bank — the receiving bank will usually receive the funds that day. After the cut-off the instruction enters the overnight or next-day processing window and posts the next business day. Weekends and public holidays are outside most retail clearing cycles, so standard EFTs will not post until the next business day unless the transfer routes over the instant network.
Real-world examples make this concrete. Moving money from a Standard Bank savings account to another Standard Bank account will show as available quickly. Sending money from Standard Bank to Capitec via a standard EFT will usually arrive the same day if sent early enough, but could land the following business day when sent late in the afternoon or on Friday evening. If both parties bank with institutions live on the instant payments rail, that same transfer can appear within seconds even on a Sunday night.
Timing is often a function of cost and risk. Instant rails impose operational costs on banks and switches; some banks absorb those costs and offer instant debits or credits for free up to a point, while others charge for priority or RTGS-style settlement. Limits also matter: instant retail rails commonly have per-transaction ceilings designed to manage fraud and liquidity; high-value moves typically still go through RTGS. When you are moving significant sums, expect different fee structures and a requirement for additional security checks that can add minutes or hours to the process.
For routine household needs the trade-offs are pragmatic. Use same-bank transfers for immediate needs when possible. For high-value obligations during business hours use RTGS. For weekend or emergency payments check whether both banks support the instant rail and whether the amount falls within the allowed limit; if so, you can expect near-instant credit. For payroll and mass disbursements, plan at least 24 to 72 hours to avoid cut-off surprises.
Delays do happen. Common causes are incorrect banking details, holds placed for fraud checks, or interbank settlement exceptions. If the beneficiary details are wrong, the receiving bank may return the funds after an investigation, which adds days. If a transfer is flagged for verification, banks may contact the sender to confirm before releasing funds. That is inconvenient but intended to prevent fraud and money-laundering.
What to do: first, confirm the payment was debited from your account and note the timestamp. Next, check the receiving account details. If both are correct and the receiving bank has not posted the credit within the times previously described, contact your bank's electronic payments desk and request a trace. Most banks have escalation processes for urgent corporate payments and will attempt to resolve interbank queries within 24 to 48 hours. If a payment is incorrectly routed, traces can usually recover funds, though it may take a few business days.
Finally, plan for human factors. Payroll runs, supplier payments and loan settlements need timing buffers. If you must guarantee receipt by a specific time, organise the transfer a business day earlier or use an instant option and verify both institutions participate.
The practical bottom line is simple: if both accounts sit at the same bank, assume seconds to minutes; if they sit at different banks and you use a standard EFT, assume same-day when you beat the cut-off, otherwise one to two business days; if you need absolute immediacy and both banks participate in the instant network, expect near-instant credit any time of day. Recognise the trade-offs between cost and speed, and schedule large or critical payments with the bank's processing windows in mind. That small bit of planning is what separates an on-time transfer from a late one.
