Banking

Say goodbye to South Africa’s billionaire-backed banking giant as you know it

Staff Writer

 ·4 Feb 2026

South African digital bank TymeBank has officially transitioned to GoTyme Bank, marking the next chapter in the bank’s evolution as part of the global Tyme Group.

The bank, which officially launched in 2019 and is backed by billionaire Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital (ARC), will also be launching a new platform for customers through the GoTyme app.

Despite the changes, GoTyme Bank remains the same licensed and regulated South African bank, with no changes to customer accounts, balances, products, ownership, or regulatory oversight.

According to the group, the GoTyme Bank brand is more closely tied to the bank’s global alignment. The bank operates as GoTyme in its Asian markets, where it has seen rapid expansion over the years.

“GoTyme Bank reflects who we are today and where we’re going next as part of a global banking group with a strong South African foundation,” said Cheslyn Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer of GoTyme Bank South Africa.

“This is not a change to our fundamentals. It’s the same bank, built on the same licence and principles, now expressed through a brand and platform that better reflects our scale, technology, and ambition.”

The new GoTyme Bank app went live on 22 January, with customers migrating over to the new platform in phases.

The group said that the rollout is being managed deliberately to prioritise security, stability, and customer experience.

The app introduces a cleaner and more modern design, improved performance and stronger security features.

Importantly, existing customers do not need to open a new account to use the GoTyme Bank app.

All customer information – including accounts, balances, and transaction history – has already been migrated.

Customers just need to download the new GoTyme Bank app and sign in using their existing details to access their accounts.

The phased rollout of the app will introduce additional features progressively over the coming weeks, alongside continued enhancements to payments, savings, and customer support.

“Customer should expect ongoing feature rollouts, continued investment in security and customer service, and regular communication through official GoTyme Bank channels,” it said.

As the group moves forward as GoTyme, it said it will continue investing in digital innovation, supported by the global Tyme Group.

South Africa’s tech unicorn

TymeBank was officially launched in 2019 by founders Coenraad Jonker and Tjaart van der Walt.

However, its roots trace back to 2012, where it began as a project at consultancy Deloitte, called “Take Your Money Everywhere” (TYME), a mobile money remittance operator funded by MTN.

The bank had a rather complicated journey to launch, with a third founder, Rolf Eichweber, also involved, but not at the commercial launch of the bank.

Tyme was spun out of Deloitte and was, for a time, owned by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), which acquired the group in 2014.

At the end of 2018, the Tyme Digital team partnered with Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital (ARC) to buy the Tyme business from CBA.

ARC is now the bank’s anchor shareholder with an effective majority stake in the group, alongside a diverse array of other international investors.

While it had been operating as a bank for a few years, TymeBank officially launched operations to the public as a retail bank in 2019.

The wider Tyme Group has stretched its ambitions in Asia, expanding into countries such as Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

It operates as “GoTyme” in these markets and has confirmed that it will be changing its name and branding across the group in the first half of 2026 to GoTyme as well.

These operations fall under TymeGlobal, which was created in 2017 as the international arm of Tyme, and is headed by founders Jonker as executive chairman and CEO, and van der Walt as a director.