TymeBank goes live with big dreams of targeting SMEs and 21 million potential customers.
South Africa’s first digital bank, TymeBank, went live on Tuesday, the first of digital-driven banking contenders taking on the traditional banks.
It also launched its EveryDay transactional account bundled with a savings tool called GoalSave, its MoneyTransfer solution and its TymeCoach app.
More than 100,000 people have signed up for its services and the bank will have 730 points of presence for customers to open accounts inside Pick n Pay or Boxer stores.
TymeBAnk CEO Sandile Shabalala said that the bank’s next target was SMEs:
“We are planning to introduce credit products later this year, as well as an SME proposition, but for now our focus is on getting simple and cost-effective banking solutions into people’s hands.”
TymeBank is backed by billionaire Patrice Motsepe and owned by African Rainbow Capital Financial Services Holdings, a company within Motsepe’s Ubuntu-Botho Investments stable.
Its aim is to capture 21 million customers, of which it says 17.1 million are underserved by the traditional banks.
Discovery Bank is expected to go live next month, and the launch of former FNB CEO Michael Jordan’s Bank Zero is also imminent.
