A Tip in the Right Direction: Protect our Paths x StreetWallet

For the past few weeks, Protect our Paths has been rolling out something new for custodians positioned across Cape Town’s beaches, forests, and trailheads: StreetWallet.

StreetWallet is a South African digital payments platform designed for people working in the informal economy - including car guards, street traders, and community custodians. The platform allows users to receive digital payments instantly, without needing a traditional bank account, smartphone data, or formal proof of address.

For our custodians, that matters enormously.

REALITIES ON THE GROUND

The operational realities we face on the ground are often complex. Some of our custodians don't have bank accounts. Some are on asylum permits. Others have had their personal documents stolen. Most don't have proof of address due to living in informal housing. 

These are not unusual circumstances in South Africa - yet they frequently exclude people from participating fully in the formal financial system.

What stood out to us about StreetWallet is that it was built with those realities front of mind.

Over the past two weeks, we’ve been helping custodians get set up with their own StreetWallet cards, enabling beachgoers, runners, hikers, and tourists to support them through quick, secure digital tipping and donations.

The platform’s founder, Kosta, has worked closely with us throughout the rollout - helping troubleshoot challenges, answering questions, and ensuring the system works practically in the environments where our custodians operate.

His motivation for building StreetWallet came from a familiar South African experience:

“Everyone in South Africa has experienced the feeling of not being able to pay someone for informal work, and then feeling guilty afterwards. I wanted to help street traders earn more income through digital payments in a way that made sense. The question was: how do we solve digital payments for the unbanked informal market?”

Thanks to Kosta and his team, that question became a practical solution.

CASH TO CARD TO…CLICK?

The shift away from cash has accelerated rapidly in recent years, but many informal workers have been left behind. As fewer people carry cash, opportunities for tipping and direct support have reduced - even when the willingness to help is still there.

StreetWallet bridges that gap by making the process simple on both sides. Visitors can pay using Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, SnapScan, Zapper, Scan-to-Pay, or EFT, while custodians receive SMS notifications and redeemable cash vouchers - without needing a bank account or smartphone connectivity.

For Protect our Paths, this partnership is deeply aligned with our custodian programme - as we work to support, formalise, and recognise our custodians who care for and protect our shared natural spaces.

As Kosta put it:

“Protect our Paths does an amazing job at creating credibility in an informal space. We were very excited to work with the organisation, mainly because it is uplifting its community. We hope the organisation keeps thriving — and we plan to walk the journey together.”

We share Kosta’s sentiment, and are glad to be working with a team and product that learns from and honours the realities of this country, rather than avoiding them.

TIP AND TRANSFORM

For our custodians, StreetWallet seamlessly connects the person who cares for the path and the person who walks it. It removes barriers to digital access, and facilitates real and immediate impact.

And, StreetWallet's ambition doesn't stop here. Backed by Standard Bank as a banking partner, the platform is actively looking to scale - and organisations like Protect our Paths are a key part of how it reaches people on the ground.

Every tip, action, and step makes a difference - and StreetWallet is leading the march.