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May 9, 2025The South African payments landscape continues to evolve, prioritising efficiency and security for both creditor and consumer, and the upcoming transition for DebiCheck debit orders from RMS to RM forms part of this growth.
Note: What is DebiCheck? DebiCheck is a secure debit order payment system in South Africa that requires you to electronically approve (authenticate) your debit order details before they are processed. This is done via their Banking App, online banking or USSD.
The RMS (Registered Mandate Service) was mandated by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) as a temporary solution to process unauthenticated DebiCheck debit orders while consumers were being educated about authentication and businesses were adopting and ironing out processes surrounding the new payment stream.
Basically, it means businesses who have DebiCheck mandates that have not been authenticated by the client, are still able to process the debit orders, but as RMS. This ensures the business can continue to provide their service to the customer without interruption. These payment instructions are processed in the Second Priority Early Morning Process Window (after Authenticated DebiCheck)and thus still be prioritised over the EFT debit order which only processed in a later processing window. Later processing windows have a lower success rate in collections, hence the advantage of processing debit orders in earlier priority windows.
What is the RM payment rail?
The RM payment option is the successor to RMS, and RMS will be completely phased out when RM comes into effect. Under the rules for the new RM service, customers don’t need to authenticate the debit order.
How does the Registered Mandate work?
The RM system functions similarly to RMS, serving as a safety net for unauthenticated mandates by ensuring an improved collection rate.
There are 2 possible options for RM:
- If a customer doesn't authenticate their DebiCheck mandate within the required time, the mandate can be defaulted to RM.
- Businesses can initiate a RM directly without first submitting a DebiCheck Authentication
Although there is no authentication required, the details of the RM contract are still registered and the debtor is notified by their bank of the details of the RM mandate (Creditor ABSN (Abbreviated short name), Contract Reference, and contact information). Like RMS, RM allows for tracking a customer’s account for up to 10 days. The RM tracking starts at midday on the day following the RM action date and ends at midnight on the same day.
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When will the new RM rail be effective?
The South African Reserve Bank has announced that the current RMS will be replaced by the RM payment rail on 12 May 2025.
From that date, where requested, all unauthenticated DebiCheck mandates will automatically be registered as a RM.
We are in the process of developing the ability for Netcash clients to submit RM requests directly and will communicate updates regarding the launch of this service.
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Author:
Johann Bensch
Product Owner • Technical
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Johann is a globe-trotting banking guru with a serious soft spot for making things better (and building cool stuff!). He's all about taking an idea from "aha!" to "amazing!", leading tech teams, and playing well with others (engineers, designers, bosses – the whole gang!). If there's a knotty problem, Johann's your guy – he untangles it with tech smarts and always aims for a win-win for everyone, especially the clients. Plus, he's got a knack for turning big business goals into reality.
