Africa: Consumer Protection

For more than a decade, South African gift cards have existed largely within the consumer-protection space. Section 63 of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 ("CPA") treats a gift card as a "pre-paid certificate, card, credit, voucher or similar device" issued by a supplier that undertakes to provide goods or services up to the stored value.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (the "Commission") on July 24, 2025 introduced the Digital, Electronic, Online, or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulation 2025 (the "Regulation").

This legal update is intended to help fintechs, mobile money operators, digital lenders and vendors in the lending value chain to assess the applicability and impact of the new FCCPC Digital...