About the South African Rand
The South African rand is the currency of South Africa, issued by the South African Reserve Bank. It is also legal tender in Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini, whose own currencies are pegged to it at par in the Common Monetary Area.
The rand is one of the most traded emerging-market currencies, and it is often used by investors as a proxy for emerging-market risk as a whole. South Africa exports gold, platinum, coal and other minerals, so the rand also moves with commodity prices.
The Reserve Bank targets 3% inflation, with a band of one percentage point either side; the target was lowered from a range of 3% to 6% in 2025. Its Monetary Policy Committee meets six times a year. Electricity supply, government finances and politics have all weighed on the rand at times.
Paying in ZAR
- Account details
- South Africa does not use IBANs. A rand payment needs the account number and the branch code (most banks now use a single universal branch code), together with the bank's SWIFT/BIC code for payments from abroad.
- Exchange control reporting
- South Africa has exchange controls. Banks report every payment into or out of the country with a balance-of-payments category code, so the recipient may be asked what the payment is for. Include a clear payment description.
- Domestic clearing
- Rand payments within South Africa can be sent as real-time clearing or PayShap payments, which arrive within seconds, or as standard EFTs, which usually take a business day.
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