TymeBank hits 10 million

TymeBank has reached 10 million customers in under six years.

The digital bank, which lays claim to being the first of its kind to reach profitability in Africa, also noted that its R7 billion in customer deposits make it South Africa’s fastest-growing bank in 2024.

“This achievement is a testament to our team’s dedication to providing equitable banking that meets the evolving financial needs of South Africans,” said TymeBank’s newly instated CEO, Karl Westvig.

Westvig was appointed CEO of TymeBank on 1 October 2024 following former CEO Coenraad Jonker’s decision to devote his full attention to his role as executive chairperson of Tyme Group.

According to TymeBank, Westvig has a wealth of leadership, lending, and fintech expertise.

Westvig said reaching profitability was one of the bank’s important feats so far.

“Among our most significant achievements has been getting the business to break even, arguably in record time,” he said.

“We did this while serving the poorest in our communities, a feat that has the potential to change what banks worldwide can do to provide access to customers across the economic spectrum.”

In the future, the bank hopes to fine-tune its customer service experience and start attracting more affluent customer segments.

It hopes to achieve the latter by creating a world-class banking app experience.

Westvig has also said that he believes the business’ increased maturity in product offerings means it can now target a more affluent segment of the South African market.

These offerings include partnerships with The Foschini Group (TFG), which allows customers to open a bank account in-store. The bank also has partnerships with Pick n Pay and Boxer.

Westvig says that the company is not focussing on short-term product expansion but on products that will realise growth over the medium and long term, such as the unsecured lending space, transactions, and savings.

He also mentioned that the bank is working on a solid credit card offering for the global group, as this will provide growth in the medium term.

TymeBank said its acquisition of fintech company Retail Capital has helped develop its small and medium-sized enterprise lending offering.

This includes paying out over R12 billion to small businesses nationwide.

TymeBank bet paying off

African Rainbow Capital’s (ARC) investment in TymeBank seems to be paying off based on its results for the year through June 2024.

In its 2024 results, ARC reported that its intrinsic net asset value grew by 21.5% to R18.62 billion.

The ARC Fund’s investment portfolio comprises 32.6% mature assets, 54.7% high-growth assets, and 12.7% early-stage assets. 

Its mature investments include 31 entities, while high-growth assets and early-stage investments comprise nine entities each.

The Tyme Group, which comprises two businesses — one South African and one Asian — was a standout performer in this year’s results.

The ARC Group holds an effective 50.04% share of the equity in TymeBank and 42.85% in Tyme Asia Holdings.

The Tyme Group’s Asian division comprises Tyme Global and GOtyme.

Tyme Global is a holding company based in Singapore. It is the platform through which multi-country banks are being launched.

GOtyme is a digital bank based in the Philippines that was launched in November 2022 and is already showing impressive growth.

The company has grown its customer base to 3.6 million within 18 months of launching GOtyme in the Philippines.

ARC said the model’s growth trajectory is strong, with activity rates exceeding those of South Africa and deposits growing faster than anticipated.

GOtyme is currently ranked sixth 6 in the country in terms of EFT transfer and QR payment volumes. The bank is expected to reach profitability in Q4 of 2025.

The Tyme Group’s South African segment — Tyme SA Holdings — comprises TymeBank, a leading digital bank in the country.

ARC invested an additional R169 million into the Tyme Group during its 2024 financial year.