TymeBank is adding 130,000 people a month in South Africa – but there’s a hitch

Digital bank TymeBank is adding 130,000 new accounts every month but is struggling to add customers with active accounts – as people sign up but don’t necessarily keep using the bank.
This is according to an investment update published by African Rainbow Capital (ARC) on Friday, which gave shareholders an update on its significant business investments.
TymeBank has seen rapid growth since its launch in February 2019, employing a successful strategy to sign up customers through kiosks at Pick n Pay and other retail stores. The bank has also seen success in targeting relatively untapped markets, including a partnership with the Zion Christian Church (ZCC).
“TymeBank is sustaining the momentum of acquiring about 130,000 customers per month. The bank is also making headway in increasing the number of customers with active accounts, which has proved to be challenging, given a tough economic environment with added pressure on consumers.
“Internationally, TymeBank’s fellow subsidiary company, Tyme Global, based in Singapore, is set to launch a digital bank called GOtyme in the Philippines in October 2022 with its local partners, the Gokongwei family,” ARC said.
In May 2022, TymeBankbank announced that, given its international growth strategy, it had decided to assign its chief executive Tauriq Keraan to a new international executive role and had contracted Coenraad Jonker, a founding member of TymeBank and executive chairman of Tyme Global, based in Singapore, to take up the role of chief executive of TymeBank.
Rain
Rain recently participated successfully in the Government-initiated spectrum auction that saw it acquire 2x10MHz in the 700MHz band and 20MHz in the 2.6GHz band for a total price of R1.43 billion.
“Although the additional spectrum acquired is expected to positively impact the valuation of the ARC Fund’s investment in Rain, the utilisation of the spectrum and its impact on Rain’s cash-flow forecast are still being finalised,” the group said.
“Therefore, the estimated impact of the spectrum auction will only be reflected in the June 2022 valuation of the ARC Fund’s investment in Rain. The business continues to perform well and demand for both 4G and 5G services remains strong.”
Metrofibre
ARC said it has successfully divested from Metrofibre following recent approval by the industry regulator Icasa.
“The ARC Fund disposed of its Metrofibre investment for a total consideration of R275 million, realising an overall gain of R37 million. An amount of R244 million of the consideration was received in April 2022, with the remaining R31 million being receivable in June 2022,” it said.
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