---
title: "Binance is helping build the payment layer beneath South Africa’s smart cities"
description: "Binance , the world's leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency exchange participated in The Gathering: Cities Edition held last week in Cape Town on Friday, 11 September. The event brought together government, technology and business leaders to discuss what South African cities need in order to become smarter and more connected."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Sponsored Content"
author: "Binance"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/binance/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-09-16-binance-is-helping-build-the-payment-layer-beneath-south-africas-smart-cities/"
published: "2026-09-16T04:00:00"
updated: "2026-09-16T09:21:11"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 544
---

# Binance is helping build the payment layer beneath South Africa’s smart cities

> [Binance](https://www.binance.com/en-ZA), the world's leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency exchange participated in The Gathering: Cities Edition held last week in Cape Town on Friday, 11 September. The event brought together government, technology and business leaders to discuss what South African cities need in order to become smarter and more connected.

By Binance · Published 16 September 2026, 06:00 SAST · Updated 16 September 2026, 11:21 SAST

## Content

At the event Binance raised a simpler question alongside the bigger infrastructure conversation: how do people actually pay for things day to day and how easily can they start. Hannes Wessels, General Manager of South Africa at Binance set out how the company is answering that question already, not with a concept but with tools already working in the South African market.

### **Starting with the basics**

Wessels described three barriers standing between people and the use of digital finance day to day. The first is understanding it, which is why Binance built [Binance Academy](https://www.binance.com/en/academy), a free resource that takes people from the basics of crypto through to more advanced concepts. The second is getting started, a process Wessels said now takes minutes rather than days using an ID or passport and a simple identity check. The third is the cost of entry. Where some platforms require deposits of thousands of rands, Binance users can start with as little as R50.

"Each of these barriers works differently," said Wessels. "That is why we treat them separately. You can't fix the cost of entry and assume that also solves understanding, or the other way around."

### **Paying at the till**

Wessels described what this actually looks like at the till, using Pick n Pay as the example. Through a partnership with Money Badger a shopper asks for the QR code, scans it through [Binance Pay](https://www.binance.com/en-ZA/learn/paysouthafrica) and the payment is done in 30 seconds, about the same time it takes to tap a card. Merchants are paid directly in rands with no fees added to the transaction.

That short window is what keeps the price stable. Using a stablecoin, a digital asset designed to track the value of a currency like the US dollar, Binance and Money Badger settle the exchange the moment the payment is made, so the amount charged matches the till slip with any small adjustment handled between the two companies rather than passed on to the customer.

Wessels also pointed to how Binance keeps everyday spending separate from broader holdings. Funds sit in an investment wallet until someone actively chooses to move them into a payment wallet for spending, a deliberate step between what someone holds and what they spend rather than one wallet doing both.

### **The other half of what makes a city smart**

For Wessels, this is where Binance sees the smart cities conversation heading next. Roads, sensors and digital platforms tend to draw the most focus and Wessels sees reliable, low cost ways to move money, both within a city and across borders, as an equally important layer underneath.

"None of this works as one big leap," said Wessels. "It starts with people understanding what they are using before they use it and getting started must be simple and affordable. Payment options must also work where people already shop and live. Get those right and that is what actually sits underneath a genuinely smart city."

Binance's participation in The Gathering reflects its broader ambition to help shape how Africa builds the financial systems its people will actually use, working through partners already embedded in everyday commerce. Education, accessibility and payment infrastructure built for everyday life, brought together, are what Binance believes will define the standard other African cities follow. **DM**