Good news for people with a Capitec bank account
Capitec’s 2026 annual report shared good news for investors and clients, with an excellent financial performance and initiatives that benefited customers.
Capitec increased its active clients to 26 million, making it the largest bank by customers in South Africa.
Its headline earnings grew by 23% to R16.8 billion. “That is several years of compounding momentum, a trajectory very few can match,” it said.
The bank added that they are still building, which means that their performance is far from its peak.
The group achieved a return on equity (ROE) of 31%, which significantly exceeded their target benchmarks.
The ROE of 31% is up from 29% in the previous year, driven by growth in diversified income streams and increased lending.
This diversification is seen in the bank’s non-interest income, which rose by 19% to R28.3 billion, now accounting for 67% of income from operations.
Its insurance business, Capitec Life, did particularly well, with net insurance income increasing by 38% to R5.2 billion.
The company’s entrance into business banking is also starting to pay dividends. Business Banking headline earnings grew by 20% to R871 million.
Another strong growth area is value-added services (VAS) and Capitec Connect, with income surging by 38% to R6.1 billion.
As Capitec continues to innovate and grow, it is investing heavily in new technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI).
Despite these investments, the group’s cost-to-income ratio improved to 39% from 41% in the prior year, indicating disciplined cost management.
All these factors helped to grow the Capitec share price by 30% over the last year, which is good news to shareholders.
Capitec clients benefited over the last year
Shareholders were not the only people who benefited over the last year. Capitec clients also had many reasons to rejoice.
Capitec’s 2026 Annual Report highlighted several developments that directly benefit clients by lowering costs, improving services, and enhancing security.
Capitec said it returned R1 billion directly to its clients during the year through reduced pricing, lower fees, cash back programmes, and rewards.
It also added value to clients by making payments easier through its zero-fee, no-margin exchange rate offering.
This and other initiatives helped grow the banking app’s client base by 18%, driving an increase in payment volume on its digital channels.
Over the last year, the bank has focused on helping businesses and entrepreneurs in South Africa with cost-effective accounts.
As part of this initiative, Capitec launched a zero-fee entrepreneur account in December 2025. As the name suggests, it has no monthly fees.
This account, aimed at sole proprietors and informal enterprises, supports up to four dedicated accounts to help separate personal and business finances.
Capitec spent a lot of resources to enhance security to protect its clients, which includes enhanced fraud protection.
Integrated digital security capabilities, client education initiatives and AI-driven interventions enhanced protection as digital adoption increased.
“During the year, more than 131,000 fraudulent beneficiaries were blocked, and over 394,000 scam payments were prevented,” Capitec CEO Graham Lee said.
One of the biggest initiatives in 2026 was Capitec’s collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs.
It introduced self-service terminals at numerous branches, allowing clients to apply for and collect their Smart ID there.
Capitec Connect clients also had reason to smile. Those who purchase devices and link their number to their bank account receive 5GB of free data each month for 12 months.
Capitec further covered the cost of data for the MoneyUp Academy and MoneyUp Chat on WhatsApp, making it free for clients to access budgeting and saving courses.
Big plans to benefit Capitec clients over the next year
Capitec highlighted that it continues to invest billions to enhance its product offering and benefit its clients.
One of the big focus areas is using artificial intelligence (AI) to personalise client experiences at scale and further enhance financial inclusion.
“We are building a responsible AI framework based on a commitment to unlock value for our clients,” Capitec CFO Grant Hardy said.
AI is already used for real-time fraud prevention, risk modelling, and employee upskilling. However, this is only the start.
“We have developed Capitec Pulse AI that provides real-time, contextualised client information to client support agents,” he said.
“We plan to use AI in the personalisation of client experiences at scale and to further enhance financial inclusion.”
Capitec chairperson, Santie Botha, added that AI is not a future aspiration for the bank. “It is already at work,” she said.
“An AI-Agent is embedded in Business Banking credit processing, with a deliberate strategy to scale it across the division,” she said.
Over the next year, Capitec Connect will be expanded to enable home connectivity via partnerships and expand access to device financing and affordable data.
Apart from IT and telecoms, Capitec was enhancing its banking and payment solutions by improving existing products and driving operational excellence.
It aims to lead in embedded lending, scale its home loan offerings, and deliver vehicle asset finance through strategic partnerships.
To make it easier for clients, Capitec is creating a single, seamless service model that supports all solutions, banking, insurance, and business, across all channels.
“Growth initiatives will be scaled and integrated in the medium term by developing a single, seamless service model that supports our suite of solutions,” it said.
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