TymeBank, a South African digital bank, has marked a significant achievement by reaching eight million customers as of October 6, 2023. This milestone highlights that TymeBank now serves one in every five eligible* South Africans.
CEO of TymeBank, Coen Jonker, commented, “We are pleased to have acquired eight million customers since our launch in February 2019. This reinforces our position as a rapidly growing digital bank and a credible alternative to traditional banks in South Africa. This growth aligns with our goal of becoming one of the top three retail banks in the country.”
TymeBank continues to see a consistent increase in its customer base, with over 200,000 customers joining every month and a 70% account activity rate over a rolling 30-day period.
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Jonker credited this success to their ‘phygital’ model, integrating digital banking into physical retail environments. He also acknowledged partnerships with retailers like Pick n Pay, Boxer, and TFG, which have helped optimize their distribution network.
Challenges persist, including ongoing outages at Home Affairs affecting customer identity verification during onboarding. Load shedding, although mitigated by backup power for TymeBank kiosks, disrupts store operations and impacts the network infrastructure.
TymeBank introduced PayShap, a unique service allowing free payments to mobile numbers linked to any bank account, in August. Their fixed deposit product, offering South Africa’s best savings rates at 11%, has been well-received.
Cheslyn Jacobs, TymeBank’s Chief Commercial Officer, noted, “We continue to see strong demand for our proposition, appealing to a wider range of consumers. We are nearing a balance of R1 billion in our fixed deposit product.”
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TymeBank is also gaining traction among SASSA recipients, facilitating efficient grant payments.
The bank’s acquisition of Retail Capital, a major SME funder, has positively impacted their funding portfolio. They now support over 50,000 businesses with approximately R9.5 billion in working capital, representing a 20% increase since acquiring Retail Capital.
TymeBank’s international venture, GoTyme Bank in the Philippines, is progressing at a similar rate, reaching one million customers within a year of its launch.
In summary, TymeBank’s growth trajectory and innovative approach have led to this remarkable achievement of eight million customers in just four years, establishing the bank as a notable player in the digital banking landscape.
TymeBank customer TymeBank customer
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the con