Wise's South Africa licence is now formal. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has appointed Wise Payments South Africa (Pty) Limited as a Category Two Authorised Dealer in Foreign Exchange with Limited Authority, or ADLA. It is the first full regulatory approval in Africa for the London-listed money transfer company, and it comes ten months after Wise announced a conditional green light.
The appointment was published as Notice 4183 in the Government Gazette on October 2, 2026. The SARB's Financial Surveillance Department followed with Exchange Control Circular No. 20/2026, dated October 5, which adds Wise to the bank's list of limited-authority dealers.
What the Wise South Africa licence covers
An ADLA licence is narrower than a full banking licence for foreign exchange. The SARB sorts these dealers into categories. Independent money transfer operators sit in Category Three. Category Two, where Wise now sits, is the tier that Condia's Omoleye Omoruyi described as the most realistic route to a remittance licence for a company like Wise.
Based on the SARB's description of Category Two, as reported by Condia and Techpoint Africa, the licence covers:
- Bureau de change services
- Certain transactions under the single discretionary allowance, which lets each South African resident send up to R2 million a year abroad
- Money remittance services run in partnership with external money transfer operators
The circular itself does not list Wise's permitted activities. It refers to the SARB's exchange control manuals, where the scope and conditions for each category are set out.
What is still unclear
The approval does not mean every Wise product will appear in South Africa. Techpoint Africa's Victoria Fakiya noted that authorisation does not automatically make the full product range available. Wise has also not said whether it can offer remittances on its own under this tier, or only through partners.
There is no launch date either. Wise has not announced when its own local service will go live, and the company declined to comment to BusinessTech on reports that it is hiring a South Africa country manager, according to Condia.
Wise already has a way into South African bank accounts
Wise does not need its own app to reach South African customers. In April 2026, Wise Platform, the company's infrastructure business, announced that Capitec will use its technology to power international payments from Capitec accounts. Capitec is the country's largest bank by number of customers.
That deal and the new licence work on different tracks. The Capitec arrangement puts Wise behind a bank's own interface. The ADLA licence gives Wise a direct relationship with the regulator, which it needs if it wants to sell to consumers under its own name.
Why South Africa is a target
When Wise first announced conditional approval in December 2025, Nadia Costanzo, its director of banking and expansion for Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, said South African consumers "still face high costs, poor price transparency, and slow, inconvenient processes when sending money abroad," according to FinTech Futures.
Wise holds more than 70 regulatory licences worldwide, including in the UK, EU, US, Australia, Singapore, Canada and India, FinTech Futures reported. Its platform served about 15.6 million retail and business customers in its 2025 financial year.
South Africa adds a large outbound market. Many residents support family in neighbouring countries, pay for study abroad or move savings offshore within their annual allowances. Banks and specialist remittance companies already compete for that money. A firm built on transparent pricing could put pressure on fees, if it can reach customers at scale.
The wider African picture
South Africa is not Wise's only African bet. In March 2026, Condia reported that Wise had received conditional approval for an International Money Transfer Operator licence in Nigeria. If that becomes final, Wise would hold licences in two of the continent's three largest economies.
The approval also arrives as the SARB works on reforms to the National Payment System that would let non-bank firms connect to payment infrastructure more directly. Condia reported the plan without details. For fintechs that today must rent access through banks, those reforms could change the economics of cross-border payments.
African remittance players are watching the same corridors. Earlier this month we looked at how a Nigerian fintech handled UK money transfers in Moniepoint UK made $36,284 after taking on MonieWorld customers, a reminder that licences are only the first cost of entering a remittance market.
What to watch
- A launch date. Until Wise names one, South Africans will mostly meet it through Capitec.
- Direct remittances. Whether Wise can send money on its own, or only through partner operators, will shape its pricing.
- Nigeria. A final IMTO licence would show whether this is a one-country move or the start of a continental push.
For now, the gazette notice settles one question. Wise is a regulated forex dealer in South Africa. What it builds there is still to come.
