FNB Commercial Merchant Services product head Netsai Ngidi says the bank’s priority is the present, supporting businesses where they are today and using that as the foundation for future growth.

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South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world, and this reality continues to shape and impact how businesses are built, sustained, and grown.

“Across the country, business owners operate in two worlds at once: the future they are trying to build and the resource constrained present they must navigate. While much of the banking industry focuses on what comes next, FNB’s priority is the present, supporting businesses where they are today and using that as the foundation for future growth,” FNB Business CEO Ghana Msibi said.

Payments reflect this shift. As payment behaviour evolves, how businesses get paid has become increasingly important to competitiveness and financial inclusion. FNB has played a long‑standing role in alternative payment methods, including eWallet, and continues to invest in payment capabilities used by both consumers and businesses.

Running a business, however, remains difficult. Business owners manage customers, staff, stock and cash flow daily, often while dealing with delays, administrative burden and systems that do not integrate. FNB is focused on reducing this friction, particularly where it affects cash flow, so businesses can focus more on trading and growth.

Against this backdrop, FNB has announced changes to speedpoint®, positioning it around practical business needs such as certainty, simplicity, predictable settlement, and tools that support day-to-day operations.

Pricing aligned to how businesses trade

A clearer pricing structure for speedpoint® has been introduced, aimed at helping businesses better understand the real cost of getting paid. The focus is not only on transaction rates, but also on system reliability during busy periods, settlement certainty and tools that reduce administrative time.

Businesses can choose devices based on how they trade today, with options to scale as their needs change, with flexibility on how pay for those devices:

• Speedpoint® Go: Buy R699 or rent R230 per month
• Speedpoint® Pro: Buy R1 499 or rent R320 per month
• Speedpoint® Tablet: Buy R4 999 or rent R500 per month
• Speedpoint® Counter: Buy R7 499 or rent R920 per month

The speedpoint® range is designed to support businesses for their needs at different stages, from mobile start‑ups trading on the move to established businesses processing higher volumes at fixed counters, while offering additional operational visibility through the broader ecosystem.

FNB Commercial Merchant Services CEO John Mlangeni; FNB Commercial Merchant Services product head Netsai Ngidi; and FNB Business CEO Ghana Msibi at the panel discussion around enhanced payment systems for business owners. Photo: Supplied

“Merchants don’t wake up thinking about ‘value propositions’ — they’re looking for real‑world answers to the business challenges they face.” FNB Merchant Services CEO John Mlangeni said, referring to the need to support businesses differently as they grow.

FNB’s commission model is structured so that businesses pay less in line with their activity, with the intention of keeping more money in merchants’ pockets from the start and continuing to give back more as volumes increase.

From March 4 this year, all existing speedpoint® merchants will automatically move onto the new pricing structure, which will result in immediate savings through lower commission rates.

“SMEs don’t need more complexity, they need certainty. Pricing must be clear, settlement must be predictable, and the tools must help businesses run better and earn more,” Msibi said.

“Cash flow is king. What we’re doing is helping businesses keep as much of their hard-earned cash flow as possible,” Mlangeni said.

Beyond payment acceptance

In addition to payment acceptance, speedpoint® includes tools aimed at supporting daily business operations and additional income streams. These include prepaid products, voucher and ticket sales, real time sales and stock visibility, online selling tools, and access to FNB cash advance, a working capital facility linked to trading performance.

To ensure accessibility from the outset, FNB offers first business zero, an entry level account with no monthly account fees, aimed at sole proprietors and businesses starting out. This allows businesses to begin trading digitally without upfront banking costs.

As businesses grow and formalise, the business gold aspire payment machine, priced at R49 per month, provides the next step into the FNB business ecosystem, supporting township and micro‑businesses with payments, tools and services aligned to more established trading needs.

FNB Personal Core Banking product head Ebert Strydom unpacks some of the new features of the speedpoint payment system. Photo: Supplied 

Access to funding remains a challenge for many small businesses. Since its launch, 65% of FNB cash advance payouts have been under R100 000, with 31% going to businesses with annual turnover below R1 million. Repayments are structured as a portion of daily sales processed through speedpoint® devices.

As a long‑standing participant in the merchant payments market, FNB recognises its responsibility to continue expanding access and improving how businesses participate in the economy.

“Our focus is not on fees alone, but on lowering the real cost of doing business, helping merchants keep more of their money and grow sustainably,” Msibi said.