ABSTRACT
Payment and commitment to pay are two different concepts. In the instance of offering cash for goods, that is instantaneous payment. Where a cheque is proffered for payment, this constitutes a commitment to pay, as the transfer of funds does not take place at the moment of handing over the cheque. The debtor is, however, no longer in default when the creditor accepts the cheque once the cheque is honoured on presentment for payment. Crediting a customer’s account through the use of a credit card by a third party constitutes payment by that party. This is not payment by the bank, but an acknowledgment on the part of the bank of its indebtedness to the customer and an implied undertaking to pay.1 Payment is generally only effected by allowing the customer to draw cash or when the bank receives the customer’s instructions to transfer funds to a third party. These instructions can take the form of the signed slip that is received when a credit card transaction takes place. The bank’s commitment to pay constitutes payment as between debtor and creditor2 but remains a mere commitment as between bank and creditor.3
