Anybody signed up with Tymebank?

[MikeCTZA]

FWIW I've had a mostly good experience but I use Tyme very little. So far just as a place to stash extra cash in case of emergencies. I haven't had to do a lot of transactions on it.

So I wonder how many of those 50k customers are actually using it like @cavedog is.

I'm using my account pretty much daily for purchases, and then have some debit orders going off as well. I have had the odd niggle here and there, still got a few that I'm trying to get sorted out but nothing major and are small things. I'm using it more to cut down on some fees. Won't replace my other bank account as still need that for other things like online purchases.

 

[cavedog]

FWIW I've had a mostly good experience but I use Tyme very little. So far just as a place to stash extra cash in case of emergencies. I haven't had to do a lot of transactions on it.

So I wonder how many of those 50k customers are actually using it like @cavedog is.

Interesting. Yeah my salary gets paid to it and I use it as my main bank account with my woolworths credit card. Great combo.

Still annoyed with the airtime purchases that is not available yet and the online purchases with card but I have my woolworths cc for the online purchases.

 

[KleinBoontjie]

Didn't know Woolies has a CC. What's the rates and fees on them?

 

[TymeGuy]

Hey guys

We've been REALLY busy: our bank kiosks are now in 500 PnP and Boxer stores, and cash deposits and withdrawals are available at >10,000 PnP and Boxer till points. If you've visited a PnP or Boxer store recently, you may have seen our branding splashed all over.

As reported in today's MyBB article, we have >50,000 customers, and we're growing really fast. And @cavedog isn't the only one who has committed to really putting us through our paces!

I have what I hope will be some great news: we've put a team in place to look after MyBB forum members - a lot better than I'm able to . From tomorrow, you'll be able to PM the team @TymeBank with details so that we can help you out. You can also email our customer service center at service@tymebank.co.za.

Don't worry, I'm going to keep visiting on a regular basis to give you updates!

For general questions, I'd still encourage you to post to this thread - lots of the guys here are really knowledgeable, and searching the thread often yields answers to problems others have encountered - so much so that we're going to be taking content from here to update our FAQ on www.TymeBank.co.za.

Now for some updates that I hope will get you excited...

New features coming soon:

1. Airtime, data and SMS bundles - and unlike our competitors, we won't charge fees (will be available from the SmartApp and Internet Banking really soon)
2. SendMoney - to any mobile number
3. eCommerce card purchases
4. International card transactions
5. Access to Proof of Payment, Proof of Account and Bank Statements via SmartApp / Internet Banking

Improvements to our kiosk process:

1. We've improved the fingerprint identity verification process - so you'll be much less likely to encounter the dreaded "please go to Home Affairs" message
2. We've fixed the process steps that seemed to confuse some of our customers
3. We want as many customers as possible to walk away from the kiosk with a TymeBank debit card - and have optimised the process to make this much more likely
4. FREE Wifi at many of our kiosks - to download the SmartApp or use as you like

Improvements to our systems:

1. The performance of our "Business Rules Engine" wasn't up to scratch (this is the system that applies rules around which transactions are permitted to proceed)- so we ripped it out and replaced it with a new solution. This has resolved the card timeout issues many of you were reporting.
2. Zero rating of our SmartApp, Internet Banking and Web Onboarding process - very soon, we'll carry the cost of mobile data (we're still ironing out some technical issues related to how the mobile networks handle traffic to our fancy cloud-based systems)

Stuff we're aware of and are working hard to sort out:

1. Some customers' Smart Shopper profile linking has failed - we're working with PnP to resolve this. If you're affected don't worry - you don't need to phone our call centre: we will sort you out. You also don't need to worry about your Smart Shopper points - any points that have been added to an "anonymous" profile will be combined with your proper Smart Shopper profile once we've fixed things. You also won't lose out on any points you've earned by paying with your TymeBank card. Apologies for any uncertainty and frustration we've caused!
2. Under certain circumstances customers make it through part of our kiosk on-boarding process, but something goes wrong... and customers end up stuck with an account or banking profile but no login PIN / password. The advice some of you have offered is good: message us on FaceBook messenger and we'll fix your profile, and then you'll be able to reset/set your PIN (our new kiosk process should prevent this problem from happening going forward).
3. 'At the moment, getting "proof of" docs from our call centre is a pain - we're building self-help functionality.
4. Some customers have been charged for cash withdrawals at PnP (some stores weren't correctly "whitelisted") - we'll reverse the charges (you don't need to do anything)
5. A handful of customers have experienced card issues (such as declines that somehow result in a debit against your account that isn't subsequently automatically reversed)
6. We know the PnP till operators aren't always familiar with the TymeBank proposition (Smart Shopper earn, cash deposits and withdrawals with card, and cash deposits and withdrawls with TymeCode vouchers) - but keep in mind that there are over 10,000 tillpoints across South Africa, and that there are multiple operators per till and high staff churn rates - this means it's a mammoth task to get everyone trained. We're on a mission to get all the PnP staff to bank with TymeBank so that they'll be able to speak about the product from personal experience.

Clarifications:

1. Your Smart Shopper number on your TymeBank debit card won't be the same as the one on your Blue Smart Shopper card (and it'll change if you get a new card). That doesn't matter - all your Smart Shopper numbers link to a single ID, and the linking should happen automatically in the background. If it hasn't happened for some reason, we'll fix it.
2. Swiping your TymeBank card in PnP and paying with it will see your Smart Shopper earn doubled - i.e. PnP awards 1SS/R2 and TymeBank matches that... so you end up earning 1SS/R1
3. Paying for fuel at BP with your TymeBank card will earn you 1SS/R3. We're working with BP to make swiping your TymeBank card to earn points from PnP as simple as swiping your Blue Smart Shopper card.
4. The TymeBank points for PnP earn and outside PnP earn (at 1SS/R3) are awarded (soon) after month end.
5. You can't spend points associated with an anonymous profile - so we need to link your profile to your ID to give you access to the Smart Shopper points you've earned.
6. We needed to link the Blue Smart Shopper card and the TymeBank card to a single Smart Shopper profile because PnP's Smart Shopper CRM system sensibly doesn't allow multiple profiles with the same ID.

We're almost done with our "soft launch" - expect big things soon!

You've got this
​

 

[cavedog]

Didn't know Woolies has a CC. What's the rates and fees on them?

Yeah got the card well since launch which is more than 6 years if I to guess. Fees I have no idea tbh I just used it as a credit card backup since launch. You can have a look at they financial services on the website. Should be listed there.

 

[electrix]

so why is easypay not an option as yet for deposits into the account?

 

[jman]

Cool, thanks @TymeGuy . I wonder, for international card purchases, what the spread on those transactions will be. Because Capitec has no spread. Going overseas in July and I don't particularly want to open another account for this

 

[pkid]

Well my adventure with them is over. Phoned to try to increase my limits to the R100 000 limit and was told they can't. I apparently have to go to Home Affairs to verify my address. So I am closing my TymeBank account today. Any bank whose answer to FICA is me standing for hours in a Home Affairs queue is not getting my business.

 

[JOEY_8]

Well my adventure with them is over. Phoned to try to increase my limits to the R100 000 limit and was told they can't. I apparently have to go to Home Affairs to verify my address. So I am closing my TymeBank account today. Any bank whose answer to FICA is me standing for hours in a Home Affairs queue is not getting my business.

Mine was increased when I did the biometrics at the kiosk.
I also complained about the FICA part via twitter to them because going to home affairs is a whole day wasted.

 

[TymeGuy]

Hey guys

A quick one on FICA / KYC.

The Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment Act, 2017 (FIC Amendment Act) came into effect on 2 October 2017 and has forced FSPs (Financial Service Providers) to move to a risk-based (rather than a rules-based) approach, which modernises the way institutions conduct customer due diligence in relation to financial transactions.

At TymeBank, we saw these changes in approach as a great opportunity - in the past, the FIC was prescriptive in terms of what information / artifacts needed to be collected (and how these were to be collected). This is no longer the case - now we are able to put our own processes in place, but the responsibility also rests with us to ensure those processes are sufficiently robust.

We offer three profile levels, depending on how much information we have been able to gather and verify about our customers:

[1] “Just met” relationship profile

• Relationship profile [1] is for customers who join TymeBank through our web process (or whose identity we're unable to verify at our kiosk using biometrics).
• Cash deposits and withdrawals can be performed at PnP and Boxer tills by generating a TymeCode using either Internet Banking or our SmartApp.
• If you want to join our loyalty programme, receive a customised debit card, and/or increase your account limits, you must visit one of our Kiosk in Pick n Pay (‘PnP’) or Boxer stores.
• Daily Spend: R2 000, Monthly Spend: R40 000, Profile Balance: R20 000

[2] “Getting to know you” relationship profile

• Relationship profile [2] is available at Kiosks at PnP or Boxer stores to customers whose identity we have managed to verify using biometrics (at present, this means we have sent a algorithmic hash of your fingerprint to the Department of Home Affairs HANIS service, and they've confirmed that your ID matches the hash in their database). In future, we will fallback to facial recognition (and Home Affairs ID/passport photos) when the fingerprint biometrics fail.
• This relationship profile allows you to agree to join our Loyalty Programme. Your debit card can then be used to earn additional Smart Shopper points inside and outside PnP.
• The debit card also allows you to buy things at any Visa Merchant. You can also get cash back at tills and perform cash deposits at PnP and Boxer. You will not be able to perform international transactions with your debit card on this relationship profile.
• Daily Spend: R10 000, Monthly Spend: R100 000, Profile Balance: R50 000

[3] “Good friends” relationship profile

• Relationship profile [3] is available to customers whose address can be verified at our Kiosks. This is a paperless process that relies on 3rd-party databases. We not be able to verify your address in this way - in future, we will offer alternative electronic address verification processes.
• This relationship profile allows much higher limits on balances and spend: Daily Spend: R100 000, Monthly Spend: R1 000 000, Profile Balance: R500 000

I mentioned in yesterday's post that we are introducing many changes to our kiosk process, which we are hoping will alleviate much of the frustration some customers have experienced with "go to Home Affairs" messages. To clarify - you should only visit Home Affairs to get a new digital ID card (which will also result in updated, high quality fingerprints being added to the HANIS database). Going to Home Affairs won't help us verify your address - for that, we rely on bureau data. If you don't have a credit history, you'll likely have a "thin file" which may make it difficult for us to verify your address and upgrade you to the "good friends" relationship profile. In future, we will solve for this using geolocation on our SmartApp.

Profile limits
The profile limits are important because ignoring them can result in unexpected issues. If you're on a "Just met" profile, and attempt to pay funds from another bank, the funds will be "unpaid" (returned to the sending bank) if the balance limit of R20 000 is breached. For example, if you have R5000 in a GoalSave, R10 000 in your EveryDay account, and attempt to pay R10 000 from another bank, the funds will be returned. This process takes up to 4 days, and is bound to infuriate you! The solution is to visit your nearest TymeBank kiosk and help us get to know you better, and we'll lift your limits.

If you're really stuck, please PM the team @TymeBank with details so that we can try to help you out - but please understand that we can't offer "custom processes" for individual customers, because that'll drive up our costs for everyone, and will compromise our ability to deliver our fantastic value proposition.

Our aim is to make joining TymeBank as easy as possible for as many people as possible - and we're working really hard to achieve that goal.

 

[Jacada]

Well my adventure with them is over. Phoned to try to increase my limits to the R100 000 limit and was told they can't. I apparently have to go to Home Affairs to verify my address. So I am closing my TymeBank account today. Any bank whose answer to FICA is me standing for hours in a Home Affairs queue is not getting my business.

I feel your pain. My SO has had a similar experience. Each time failed to get a card, each time told to go to Home Affairs (yea right, like that's gonna happen, I'll first chew off my own foot) and each time got her account locked/blocked. So now she's removed all her money (which was a pain in itself because she could only take out R2 000 at a time and was charged R2 for each transaction). The account is useless to her untill she can get a card.

I take courage from this statement from TymeGuy:

We've improved the fingerprint identity verification process - so you'll be much less likely to encounter the dreaded "please go to Home Affairs" message.

We will try once more to get a card for her, if it fails again then the account can lie and rot for all I care.

Can someone maybe explain to me why the FICA cannot be done by the Tyme Ambassador? Is there some legal reason that prevents them from doing this?

 

[NeonNinja]

Answer to OP: Yes, more than 50,000 people.

 

[cfvh600]

Answer to OP: Yes, more than 50,000 people.

 

[Gwdihŵ]

@TymeGuy,

I have sent two emails to service@tymebank.co.za. The first one about two weeks ago, and the second one about two days ago. I have had absolutely no response thus far, not even an acknowledgement message from an autoresponder to say that the email has been received. This is not good at all. The customer service needs to be greatly improved.

 

[pkid]

I mentioned in yesterday's post that we are introducing many changes to our kiosk process, which we are hoping will alleviate much of the frustration some customers have experienced with "go to Home Affairs" messages. To clarify - you should only visit Home Affairs to get a new digital ID card (which will also result in updated, high quality fingerprints being added to the HANIS database). Going to Home Affairs won't help us verify your address - for that, we rely on bureau data. If you don't have a credit history, you'll likely have a "thin file" which may make it difficult for us to verify your address and upgrade you to the "good friends" relationship profile. In future, we will solve for this using geolocation on our SmartApp.

My current limit is the R50 000 one because my fingerprints did scan and I got the card. I have a 15 year credit history.

I can't believe I would have gone to Home Affairs for nothing then. You need to train the call center staff better IMO.

I am now stuck transferring R10 000 at a time thanks to the daily payment limit. Sigh...

 

[cavedog]

I'm on Good Friends profile. Glad to see we are Good Friends Tyme

 

[amabacha]

Did the verification steps at a kiosk at the PnP Strand Street. Made it to the get card step and then got the error below. Apologetic ambassador said he had to contact his supervisor but unlikely he'd sort it out today. Blegh

 

[mr_norris]

Did the verification steps at a kiosk at the PnP Strand Street. Made it to the get card step and then got the error below. Apologetic ambassador said he had to contact his supervisor but unlikely he'd sort it out today. Blegh

Did you perhaps give it another try or two? I had a similar issue when getting my card. Logged out, tried again and HEY PRESTO.

 

[Swa]

Well my adventure with them is over. Phoned to try to increase my limits to the R100 000 limit and was told they can't. I apparently have to go to Home Affairs to verify my address. So I am closing my TymeBank account today. Any bank whose answer to FICA is me standing for hours in a Home Affairs queue is not getting my business.

Yeah so far I am not impressed. Doing things electronically is supposed to be less hassle. As usual though it's those of us who don't want to subscribe to the system and feed the fatcats with credit that are drawing the short straw. I see no reason why they can't verify address manually like all the other financial institutions I've dealt with.

I shudder to think what's going to happen when people change their address.

 

[Aharon]

Anyone else seeing improved approval times on transactions?