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TymeBank signs 250k customers in two months

Admire Moyo
By Admire Moyo, ITWeb's news editor.
Johannesburg, 26 Apr 2019
TymeBank CEO Sandile Shabalala.
TymeBank CEO Sandile Shabalala.

Digital bank, TymeBank now has 250 000 customers after launching two months ago.

The bank soft launched with one kiosk in November 2018, and officially launched to the public with just over 500 kiosks at the end of February 2019.

TymeBank is one of SA's new digital banks looking to disrupt the traditional banking system. In February, it facilitated R10 million worth of transactions on the first day it went live.

It is owned by African Rainbow Capital (ARC), a company within business mogul Patrice Motsepe's Ubuntu-Botho Investments stable, making it SA's first majority black-owned bank. ARC bought the business from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in November 2018.

TymeBank has formed a long-term strategic partnership with retail giant Pick n Pay, allowing its customers to bank at Pick n Pay and Boxer stores around the country.

With the launch of three digital banks - Bank Zero, TymeBank and Discovery Bank - the South African retail banking industry is set for a shake-up this year.

According to TymeBank, 26% of the bank's first quarter of a million customers are between the ages of 36 and 45, and 14% are aged 46 to 55.

"We're delighted to see how many of our customers are above the age of 36, as we believe that these are people who already have an existing bank account, who see the value we offer and have taken the decision to give us a shot," says TymeBank's CEO Sandile Shabalala.

"Furthermore, 78% of our customers have opened their accounts at a kiosk inside a Pick n Pay or Boxer store with 22% having done so on our Web site. We are really encouraged that we're appealing to a broad range of South African consumers, those who are digitally savvy enough to open an account online and those who feel more comfortable with a physical touchpoint," comments Shabalala.

The digital bank says customers are making use of the bank's EveryDay transactional features as well as its savings tool called GoalSave.

"We offer a transactional account with no monthly fees and the lowest bank fees in the market, at 50% less than our nearest competitor," claims Shabalala.

"Our GoalSave tool earns customers 9% per annum interest after three months, with a bonus that can take customers interest rates up to 10%. We can clearly see that our affordability, convenience and attractive interest rates on savings are resonating with South Africans."

Among TymeBank's current network of 624 active kiosks, those in Gauteng are leading the pack with 34% of accounts opened using them, KwaZulu-Natal comes in second at 16% and the Western Cape third at 8%.

"For our launch, we concentrated on the Gauteng region which is showing in our data. The best performing stores are at the Quagga Centre's Pick n Pay in Pretoria and Boxer stores in Thembisa, Lenasia, Alexandra and Noordstreet," says Shabalala.

"As we continue to roll out more stores across the country in urban, peri-urban and rural areas, we can expect this distribution to change. These early numbers have exceeded our expectations and are very promising."

At present TymeBank, says it is opening bank accounts for between 3 000 to 4 000 customers per day, and Shabalala expects this will soon climb to 5 000 a day.

"At just 60 days after our official launch, we are encouraged to see the clear customer trends that are emerging. As our kiosk distribution in Pick n Pay and Boxer stores increases alongside our national marketing efforts, we can expect this momentum to continue so that we are consistently signing-up over 100 000 customers a month," concludes Shabalala.

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