Since the early 1990s, rapid tests have been available for detection of HIV infection. They were intended for field diagnosis, emergency and home testing. In addition, rapid tests for anti-HIV, hepatitis B surface antigen and antihepatitis C virus have been used for blood screening in many resource-poor areas to save resources and overcome lack of funding, equipment and electrical supply. The performance of rapid tests varies widely but some have sensitivity and specificity levels that meet standards established by enzyme immunoassays for anti-HIV. Compared with genomic detection of hepatitis B virus, hepatitis B surface antigen rapid tests and enzyme immunoassays have insufficient sensitivity. The clinical consequences of this performance deficit remain to be clarified. Anti-hepatitis C virus rapid tests detect chronically infected individuals who are viremic, however, further studies are required to fully assess their performance. In settings where few blood donations are collected and equipment is unavailable, rapid tests provide a flexible, technically undemanding and relatively inexpensive approach to ensuring a safer blood supply. When utilized for predonation screening in areas of high endemicity of viral markers, rapid tests provide the means to limit blood bag wasting, store only clinically usable blood and inform and counsel deferred donors. As with any laboratory assay, adequate training and sustained quality assurance programs are critical to maintain a safe supply of blood. As a means of achieving a safe blood supply, rapid tests for viral markers and nucleic acid testing have a place next to classic enzyme immunoassays in the definition of strategies that are adapted to a setting's epidemiology, the size and type of donor base, equipment, staff training and resources.