The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is the sole issuer of banknotes and coin in South Africa and ensures the integrity as well as the availability of the currency on which seigniorage is earned. From a macroeconomic perspective, the face value of the rand in issue and in circulation in South Africa, outside of the SARB, has increased 695 times since the introduction of the rand in 1961. The currency in issue has broadly maintained its relative volume in relation to the level of nominal gross domestic product. The increased prevalence of electronic payments is also evident from the decline in the ratio of the currency in circulation outside of the monetary sector to total money supply (M3).