Many providers list the South African rand and the Israeli shekel. The word that matters is what they mean by it. A currency you can only pay out to behaves differently from one you can hold a balance in, and each of these two adds a local rule that shapes both.
Three things "we cover ZAR" can mean
- Payout only. You send another currency, and the beneficiary receives rand or shekel. You never hold a balance.
- Receive and hold. You can keep a balance in the currency and see it in your own ledger.
- Hold and convert directly. You hold a balance, and you can convert between it and any other currency you hold without a dollar leg in the middle.
Ask which of the three applies, per currency, in writing. On Modality, ZAR and ILS are two of the 36 account currencies, which are currencies you can hold a balance in. Any two of the 35 form a direct pair, which gives 630 pairs. The full list by region is on the coverage page.
South Africa: what is specific to ZAR
The South African Reserve Bank administers exchange control. It appoints banks as Authorised Dealers in foreign exchange, and its Currency and Exchanges Manual for Authorised Dealers restricts dealing in foreign currency to those dealers and to permitted purposes. For a buyer this means two questions: which regulated party handles the South African leg of your payment, and what documents a cross-border rand payment needs from you. Do not assume the answers match what you know from euro payments. The manual changes over time, so read the current version rather than a summary.
On rails, the Payments Association of South Africa describes two relevant streams. EFT credits are processed in a batch at the close of the day. Real Time Clearing, launched in 2006, credits the beneficiary account within 60 seconds, subject to item limits. Payments above R5 million go through the real-time gross settlement system. Which stream your payment uses depends on its size and on your provider. The PASA page does not state operating hours for Real Time Clearing, so ask for them. For a worked corridor, see ZAR to EUR.
Israel: what is specific to ILS
The Bank of Israel runs Zahav, the real-time gross settlement system for shekel payments. Its operating days are Sunday to Friday. It closes at 14:00 on Fridays and on holiday eves, Saturday is not an operating day, and the Bank of Israel lists the 2026 holiday closures in a separate document.
So shekel settlement through Zahav has a calendar. A client order that arrives on a Friday afternoon or a Saturday meets the same mismatch as any rail that is not open around the clock; the weekend case is mapped in banks close at the weekend, client orders do not. Ask how a provider treats an ILS instruction that arrives outside Zahav hours: queued, rejected, or settled another way.
Five questions to ask about any ZAR or ILS offer
- Is the currency a payout destination, a balance, or both?
- Can I convert to and from my other currencies directly, or does the conversion go through USD?
- Which local rail carries the payment, and what are its cut-off times and holidays?
- Which regulated party sits on the local side, and what does it need from me: onboarding, documents, limits?
- What happens to an instruction that arrives outside local hours?
The wider checklist is in twelve questions to ask a stablecoin settlement provider.
What a direct pair changes, and what it does not
A direct pair removes the dollar conversion. ZAR to ILS, or EUR to ZAR, is one conversion with one quoted spread. It does not remove the South African exchange-control documents, the Israeli banking calendar, or the onboarding checks on either side. Those belong to the currency, not to the route. To see what a second conversion costs on your pair, use the pair checker.
Frequently asked questions
Does Modality offer ZAR and ILS accounts?
ZAR and ILS are among the 36 account currencies on the Modality coverage sheet (July 2026), listed under Africa and the Middle East. Coverage is subject to onboarding, eligibility and regulatory review.
Is a payout currency the same as an account currency?
No. A payout currency means a beneficiary can receive it. An account currency means you can hold a balance in it.
Can a rand payment arrive within a minute?
The Payments Association of South Africa describes Real Time Clearing as crediting the beneficiary account within 60 seconds, subject to item limits. Whether a given payment uses it depends on the amount and on the provider.
Does Zahav run on Saturdays?
No. The Bank of Israel gives its operating days as Sunday to Friday, with a 14:00 close on Fridays and holiday eves.
Sources
- Modality coverage sheet, July 2026 (36 account currencies including ZAR and ILS; 630 direct pairs).
- Bank of Israel, The Zahav (RTGS) System, read 5 Nov 2026 boi.org.il
- Bank of Israel, business days of the Zahav RTGS system 2026, read 5 Nov 2026 boi.org.il
- Payments Association of South Africa, credit payments, read 5 Nov 2026 pasa.org.za
- South African Reserve Bank, Financial Surveillance, read 5 Nov 2026 resbank.co.za
- South African Reserve Bank, Currency and Exchanges Manual for Authorised Dealers (cover dated 21 May 2021), read in part 5 Nov 2026 resbank.co.za
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