Australia’s Commonwealth Bank reviewing Tyme Digital ownership in SA: report
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) which owns 90% of Tyme Digital – expected to launch banking services South Africa this year – is reportedly reviewing its position in the local market.
This is according to several reports in the Australian media, citing sources close to the talks, which say that CBA is in early talks to sell the business to its minority partner in South Africa, African Rainbow Capital (ARC).
CBA acquired Tyme Digital – a South African fintech business – in 2015 for AU$40 million, which went on to form part of the group’s international financial services division. The company employs 52,000 people across its global operations.
In 2017, ARC, founded by South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe announced that it had acquired a 10% stake in Tyme, after which it was announced that the company had been granted a banking licence.
According to the Australian Financial Review, CBA said that it was currently in the early stages of a “strategic review”, looking for “the most suitable long term structure for Tyme Digital”.
CBA was retreating from international markets, it said, as the bank focuses on the Australian and New Zealand markets. The paper cited sources saying that the South African offices were informed of the review, and that operations in Hong Kong are also under review.
Tyme Digital is one of five new banks expected to launch in South Africa in 2018 and 2019. The others include Discovery’s full service bank; former FNB CEO Michael Jordaan’s Bank Zero; Postbank’s play as a retail bank, African Bank’sl aunch of transactional banking; and the Young Women in Business Network’s mutual bank.
According to data from the South African Reserve Bank, Tyme had over R1.4 billion in assets in the country at the end of 2017.
The bank is still expected to launch as a full service digital bank before the end of the year.
Read: These are the 18 biggest banks in South Africa – including Discovery
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