As it turns 25, Capitec Bank is intensifying its investment in artificial intelligence as well as the roll out of smart IDs, in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs.
This emerged today when the JSE-listed financial services firm announced its annual financial results for the year ended February.
Capitec increased headline earnings by 23% to R16.8 billion, achieved a return on equity of 31%, and now serves 26 million active clients.
In a note to shareholders, chairman Santie Botha and CEO Graham Lee say: “We’ve had a pleasing year. Another one, on the back of 25 years of hard work.
“We continued to earn and deepen the trust of more than 26 million active clients by delivering simple, transparent and affordable financial solutions at scale. Digital transaction platforms, personal and business banking services and insurance offers matured further, broadening our ecosystem and increasing the value that we deliver to clients.
“Innovative credit solutions expanded responsible access to credit while remaining within our risk appetite. Significant investment in fraud prevention, data and artificial intelligence strengthened client protection and reinforced trust. These foundations give us confidence in what we are building – for our clients, for our shareholders and for South Africa.”
They note that most recently, self-service terminals were introduced in more than 86 branches to enable clients to obtain smart IDs, improving access to this service while supporting national capacity through our collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs.
Since inception in March 2026, 71 000 smart ID applications have been successfully processed via the bank, they add.
MVNO gains
According to the bank, value-added services and Capitec Connect grew 38% to R6.1 billion, while net insurance income increased 38% to R5.2 billion as clients moved deeper into the broader Capitec ecosystem.
In a statement, the bank says with 1.5 million active clients in the last three months, mobile virtual network operator Capitec Connect has become an increasingly embedded part of clients’ daily lives.
It notes that over the past year, the group gave back three petabytes of free data, worth R78 million, helping clients stay connected to work, school and opportunity.
In addition to giving clients access to affordable connectivity, Capitec Connect also launched device sales to all clients through partnerships with Samsung and Apple, delivered nationwide.
It adds that disciplined execution and technology-enabled platforms continue to translate scale into shared value. Over the last financial year, Capitec returned R1 billion to clients through lower fees, reduced pricing, cash back programmes, and rewards reinforcing the link between growth and long-term client value, it notes.
Capitec says its latest pricing and rewards interventions have delivered substantial savings to customers and businesses, amounting to hundreds of millions of rand across multiple categories.
The bank notes that R228 million was saved through the simplification and reduction of fees introduced in March 2025, while a further R213 million flowed to South African businesses via reduced card machine and merchant commission rates, as well as discounted point-of-sale devices.
Customers also benefited from R61 million in savings linked to lower international card fees and zero forex margins.
In addition, Capitec highlights R330 million saved through reduced Capitec Connect data prices, alongside R108 million in savings driven by free Connect data and Live Better rewards. A further R107 million was returned to clients through its 1% cash-back offering on all spending using a Capitec Credit Card.
Accelerating digital adoption
Personal Banking remains the growth engine of the group, with 25.2 million active clients – growing by 7%, and 9.9 million fully banked clients growing by 12%.
The bank notes that digital adoption continued to accelerate, with half of all payments now digital. E-commerce transactions, including Capitec Pay, increased 32% to 643 million, Pay wallet transactions rose 103% to 335 million, and international and cross-border payment volumes increased 29% to 85.6 million.
Today, one in three South African adults (15 million) are active on the app – this increased by 19%, says the bank.
It points out that as digital adoption grows, so too does the importance of security, trust and resilience. According to the company, during the year, Capitec’s fraud prevention systems blocked more than 131 000 bad beneficiaries, including 64 000 mule accounts, while AI warnings stopped over 394 000 scam payments and helped save clients more than R673 million.
“Our growth over the past year reflects 25 years of staying focused on what matters most: making banking simpler, more accessible and more affordable for our clients. The trust that 26 million South Africans place in us is something we value deeply, and it remains the foundation on which we continue to build,” says Lee.
“More than the numbers, these results show that clients are choosing Capitec to play a bigger role in their financial lives. That trust is earned over time, and we remain committed to honouring it.”
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