Business bank accounts in South Africa: cards, payment terminals and what they cost

Business bank accounts in South Africa look alike on the surface, but the same activity can cost several times more at one bank than at another. The monthly fee is the line everyone sees. The costs that often matter more are how your business moves money: cash deposits, supplier payments, debit orders, card sales, card terminal rates and payments abroad. This guide explains what to compare on business bank accounts in South Africa, sets out the 2026 published tariffs of four banks, and shows how to price your own month before you sign.

It is written for owners and managers of businesses of any size, from a sole trader with one account to a growing company with staff, suppliers and customers in several places. Every fee below comes from the bank’s own published 2026 pricing guide, read on 5 November 2026, so each figure is as at 5 November 2026. Banks change their tariffs, often on 1 January or 1 March, and some fees depend on turnover, the product you qualify for or a minimum balance. Ask for the full tariff in writing before you open an account.

The short version: choose by your real pattern of transactions, not by the monthly fee alone. Count what a typical month looks like, price that pattern on each tariff, then check minimum balances, out-of-bundle charges and card or terminal rates. Those are where most surprises sit.

What a business bank account charges for

Most business current accounts in South Africa charge in four ways, and many combine them:

• A monthly account or management fee. This is the fixed cost of keeping the account open. It can be zero for some qualifying businesses, or run to hundreds of rand a month for higher service tiers.
• Per-transaction fees. Each payment, debit order, withdrawal and deposit can carry its own charge. This is pay-as-you-transact pricing.
• Bundles. A fixed monthly fee covers a set number of transactions. Anything beyond the bundle is charged at out-of-bundle rates, which can be much higher.
• Card and merchant fees. The card on the account has its own charges, and if you take card payments you pay a merchant rate, a terminal rental or both.

Absa’s 2026 business pricing brochure shows how the options are packaged. Its pay-as-you-transact option has a monthly account fee of R115.00 with charges per transaction, and its bundled packages, called Ignite, Start, Grow and Excel, cost R210.00, R335.00, R450.00 and R725.00 a month, each with a limit on the number of transactions. Absa also says a minimum balance of R150 must be kept in the business transactional account to cover the monthly administration fee and keep the account active. Source: Absa Business Banking 2026 benefits and pricing brochure.

How the monthly fees compare

As at 5 November 2026, these are the monthly fees we could read in the 2026 tariffs. Each figure is before transaction charges.

• Absa Business Evolve Core: R0.00 for a sole proprietor with turnover under R5 million a year, according to the qualification note in Absa’s guide.
• Absa Business Evolve Lite: R50.00 a month, for turnover under R1.5 million a year.
• Capitec Business Banking Account: R50.00 a month, if the account keeps a minimum balance of R150. Source: Capitec business bank fees pricing guide 2026, valid from 1 March 2026.
• Nedbank Business Pay-as-you-use: an account maintenance fee of R80 a month from 1 January 2026, up from R75. Source: Nedbank Small Business Services Pay-as-you-use fees 2026, and the Nedbank 2026 fee-change schedule.
• Standard Bank Business Current Account: monthly management fees of R105 (Enterprise Banking), R120 (Relationship Banking Growth), R150 (Relationship Banking Premium) and R180 (Commercial Banking), with transaction fees on top. Source: Standard Bank Business Current Account pricing guide 2026.

A zero or low monthly fee is not automatically the cheapest option. An account with no monthly fee can charge more per payment, and a higher-fee account can be cheaper for a business that makes many electronic payments. The worked example below shows how the same month can be priced two ways.

Cash deposits and withdrawals

For shops, salons, transport operators and any business that takes cash, deposits and withdrawals are often the largest cost. The charges differ sharply by channel, so ask which channel your staff use most.

• Capitec: R1.40 per R100 for cash deposits at Capitec ATMs and selected supermarket till points. Withdrawals from any ATM in South Africa cost R10.00 per R1,000, and a withdrawal at a supermarket till costs R2.00.
• Nedbank: at a branch, a deposit costs R10 plus R2.52 per R100, with a minimum of R55. At a Nedbank Intelligent Depositor ATM it is R5 plus R1.26 per R100. A withdrawal at a Nedbank ATM costs R2.75 per R100, and at another bank’s ATM R12 plus R2.75 per R100.
• Absa Business Evolve Core: R4.90 plus R1.40 per R100 for a deposit at an Absa ATM. Withdrawals cost R0.90 per R100 at an Absa ATM and R85.00 plus R2.90 per R100 at the branch counter.
• Standard Bank: an ATM deposit costs R4.80 plus R1.36 per R100. A branch deposit costs R9 plus R2.46 per R100, with a minimum of R60. An ATM withdrawal costs R2.80 per R100, and a branch withdrawal R85 plus R3.03 per R100.

Nedbank’s 2026 schedule also says cash-handling fees for deposits rose by 5%, a reminder that the same fee can move in a single year. Check the cash lines in whichever tariff you choose. If you deposit a lot of cash, read our explainer on how SARS checks bank deposits, and what it can cost.

Payments, debit orders and immediate payments

Electronic payments are where many small businesses pay more than they expect, especially if they pay suppliers several times a week. The lines to compare are the standard payment to another bank, the immediate payment, the external debit order and the charge for a returned or disputed debit order.

• Capitec charges R2.00 for a payment to another South African bank, R6.00 for an immediate payment to another bank, R3.00 for a debit order and R30.00 for a disputed debit order. A payment to another Capitec client costs R1.00.
• Standard Bank charges R9.30 for an account payment through online banking or the app, and R20 for an external debit order. PayShap costs R7 for a payment under R2,000 and R45 for R2,000 and above. An immediate payment through online banking costs R45.
• Absa Business Evolve Core charges R5.50 for a payment, R8.50 for an immediate payment and R5.50 for an external debit order. Internal transfers and internal debit orders are free and unlimited.
• Nedbank charges R12 for an external debit order and R1 for an internal one. A stop order costs R12. Its instant-payment fee is R10 up to R3,000 and R50 above that, and a PayShap payment to an account costs R10.

Card payments: the account’s own card charges

Taking a card payment and holding a card on your account are separate costs. The account’s card charges are what you pay when you or your staff spend from it, and the differences are wide:

• Capitec lists purchases at any South African card machine as free from the business account, and charges R150 for a replacement or supplementary card.
• Standard Bank charges R4.90 for each card purchase, R7.60 for a card purchase with cash withdrawal, and R160 for a chip debit card replacement.
• Absa Business Evolve Core charges nothing for debit card purchases. The guide says a replacement card is charged at the standard fee.
• Nedbank charges R202 a year for its debit card service fee, which includes lost-card protection.

Payment terminals: device, rental and merchant rate

A card machine has three possible costs: the device, a monthly rental or minimum fee, and the merchant rate on each sale. Banks and payment providers price these differently, so the cheapest headline price can hide the cost of the rate.

Standard Bank’s 2026 merchant tariff, with fees effective from 1 January 2026 and shown including VAT, lists the SimplyBLU Pro at R1,999 excluding VAT to buy outright (R2,298.85 including VAT), and the SimplyBLU Pocket at R1,299 excluding VAT (R1,493.85 including VAT). It shows a monthly minimum merchant fee of R399 excluding VAT for the portable SimplyBLU Pro and for the P400 PIN pad, and a monthly rental of R399 excluding VAT for the Pro and R249 excluding VAT for the PIN pad. The bank says commission fees are negotiable and depend on each client’s profile, and that the administration or installation fee is no longer charged to new sign-ups. Source: Standard Bank Merchant Solutions pricing brochure 2026.

Absa’s Mobile Pay, listed in its 2026 Business Evolve Lite and pay-as-you-transact sections, has no monthly rental and no once-off fee, but charges a 2.25% merchant service fee on each transaction. On R10,000 of card sales in a month, that is R225 in merchant fees before anything else. A fixed rental can work out cheaper than a percentage once your monthly card turnover is high, so run both numbers.

Capitec’s guide does not list a merchant rate for accepting cards, so we have not confirmed one. Nedbank’s merchant terminal rates were not in the document we read, and we have left them out. Ask for a written rate card, and check the effective rate on your last statement, because the headline rate and the all-in cost can differ.

Payments abroad and foreign cards

Foreign costs stack up across a card charge, a conversion fee and a payment rate. The guides we read price them as follows:

• Standard Bank: a debit card purchase abroad costs R4.90 plus 2.75% of the transaction value. A cash withdrawal at an international ATM costs 2.75% of the value plus R3 per R100, with a minimum of R70. The guide lists outgoing international payments at 0.502%, with a minimum of R210 and a maximum of R760, and at 0.700%, with a minimum of R300 and a maximum of R995. The guide’s columns show two channels, so confirm which rate applies to yours.
• Nedbank: a currency conversion fee of 2.5% of the transaction value applies to cross-border card transactions, and a cash withdrawal at an international ATM costs R65 plus R2.85 per R100.
• Capitec: an international ATM withdrawal costs R70, and a successful international transaction carries a processing fee of 2%, capped at R200. Capitec points to its Forex page for other forex fees.

For the supplier side of an import, see our guide to importing goods into South Africa, including paying your supplier, and for the rules on sending money out, see our guide to exchange control in South Africa.

Opening the account

Banks must verify the business and the people who own, control and operate it under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act. In practice that usually means company or close corporation registration documents, proof of who owns and controls the business, and identity documents for the people who will sign on the account. Requirements differ by bank and by the type of business, and they can change, so ask for the list in writing and bring certified copies where the bank asks for them.

We did not read the Financial Intelligence Centre’s own guidance, so treat this list as common practice, not a legal rule.

Overdrafts: read the fees, not just the limit

An overdraft is priced in several layers, and the headline limit is only one of them:

• Standard Bank: an initiation fee of 1.26% of the facility. The monthly fee is R99 for a natural person, and for a company or other juristic entity it is 0.05% of the facility, with a minimum of R99 and a maximum of R290.
• Nedbank: inside the National Credit Act, the overdraft fee is R165 plus 10% of the limit above R1,000, capped at R1,207.50. Nedbank says non-juristic entities fall within the National Credit Act for pricing purposes only. Its application fee for a new or increased facility is 0.80% of the limit, with a minimum of R2,200.
• Capitec: a monthly service fee of R69 on an active overdraft, and an excess fee of R100.

Overdraft prices depend on facility size and on the risk the bank assigns to your business, so treat these as starting points. Your offer letter sets the final terms. If you are planning to borrow, our guide on improving your credit score in South Africa covers what lenders look at.

A worked example: 20 payments and 10 debit orders a month

Take a business that makes 20 payments a month to other South African banks and has 10 external debit orders. Using the 2026 tariffs as at 5 November 2026, and counting only those lines:

• Capitec Business Banking Account: R50 monthly fee, plus 20 payments at R2.00, plus 10 debit orders at R3.00. That is R50 + R40 + R30 = R120 a month.
• Standard Bank Business Current Account, Enterprise Banking tier: R105 monthly fee, plus 20 account payments at R9.30, plus 10 external debit orders at R20. That is R105 + R186 + R200 = R491 a month.

The example leaves out deposits, card charges, terminals and any minimum balance, so it is not a full quote. We did not price Absa or Nedbank in this example, because their payment lines are labelled differently in the guides we read, and we did not want to force a match. Run the same pattern through each tariff, including the cash and card lines that apply to your business.

How to compare in five steps

1. Write down a typical month: cash deposits and withdrawals, payments by channel, debit orders, card sales, foreign payments and any card machine volume.
2. Check whether you qualify. Absa’s Business Evolve Core requires a sole proprietor with turnover under R5 million a year, and its Lite account turnover under R1.5 million. Check the qualifying rules for every product you consider.
3. Price the same month on each tariff, using the same pattern of transactions.
4. Look at out-of-bundle charges and monthly limits. A bundle that looks cheap can cost more once you exceed it.
5. Get the full tariff in writing, note the date it applies, and recheck it when the banks update their guides, which in 2026 happened on 1 January for Standard Bank, Absa and Nedbank and on 1 March for Capitec.

If your account holds cash you do not need for a while, our guide to where South African business owners can invest surplus cash compares the options and the rates we could verify.

Complaints and help

The Ombudsman for Banking Services is now part of the National Financial Ombud Scheme (NFO), according to the Ombudsman’s own website at obssa.co.za. The NFO’s site reports that in its second year of operation it channelled R442.9 million back to financial consumers, in a release dated 5 June 2026, and that its banking division returned R60 million to consumers in 2025. Those figures show the scheme is active. They do not tell you whether your business qualifies, so check the NFO’s website for eligibility and start with your bank’s own complaints process. Keep written records of every fee query.

What we could not confirm

• FNB: FNB’s pricing page returned a block page to our request on 5 November 2026, so we have left out every FNB figure, including its card machine rates.
• Merchant rates at Nedbank and Capitec: the guides we read do not give a per-transaction card acceptance rate for either bank, so we have not stated one.
• Absa payment lines: Absa’s guide labels its payment charges differently from the other banks, so Absa is not in the worked example.
• Card-acceptance and interchange rules: we could not read the PASA or SARB pages we tried, so this article does not describe interchange or merchant pricing rules.
• Channel columns: several guides print their tariffs in table columns that do not convert cleanly to text. Where we were not sure which channel a fee applies to, we say so or leave the figure out.

Frequently asked questions

Is a zero monthly fee the cheapest business account?

Not always. Absa’s Business Evolve Core has a R0.00 monthly fee for sole proprietors with turnover under R5 million, but its per-transaction charges still add up. Price a typical month before you decide, because the cheapest account depends on your pattern of transactions, not on the headline fee.

Do the fees stay the same during the year?

Not necessarily. Standard Bank’s guide says its products and the terms under which they are offered may change, and that it will inform you within a reasonable time. Nedbank says it may change any fee after giving reasonable notice. Check the tariff again on 1 January or 1 March, when these guides have been updated.

How much must I keep in the account?

Absa requires a minimum balance of R150 in the business transactional account, and Capitec’s Business Banking Account has the same R150 minimum. We did not find a minimum balance in the Standard Bank or Nedbank guides we read, so ask the bank directly.

What should I compare when paying a supplier abroad?

Compare the bank’s foreign payment rate, its minimum and maximum charges, and any conversion fee. Standard Bank lists outgoing international payments at 0.502% to 0.700%, depending on the channel, and Nedbank adds a 2.5% conversion fee on cross-border card transactions. Ask for the total cost in rand before you pay.

Where do I complain about a bank fee?

Start with the bank’s complaints process and keep a written record of what you raised. If the bank does not resolve the complaint, the National Financial Ombud Scheme handles banking complaints. Check the NFO’s website for who qualifies, because we did not confirm the eligibility rules for business customers.