The man who turned FNB into the world’s most innovative bank

 ·23 Jan 2025

Michael Jordaan led First National Bank (FNB) for nearly a decade, during which time it was named the “World’s Most Innovative Bank.”

Under Jordaan’s leadership, FNB saw its customer base jump from 4.4 million to 7.1 million, while its profits jumped from R904 million in 2004 to R7.4 billion in 2013.

FNB transitioned from a traditional bank and was named the “World’s Most Innovative Bank” in 2012 at the BAI-Finacle Global Banking Innovation Awards.

Prior to joining his banking career, Jordaan attended Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch. He then completed an M.Comm in economics and PhD in banking supervision at Stellenbosch University.

He became a management trainee programme at Deutsche Bank in Hamburg and, in 1992, became a corporate banker with Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt.

He returned to South Africa in 1994 and joined a programme in Rand Merchant Bank’s credit and corporate finance divisions.

From 1996 to 1999, he served as the CEO of Origin Bank, which was rebranded into RMB Private Bank.

He would then hold chief executive positions at eBucks.com, FNB HomeLoans and the FNB customer solutions division.

He was then promoted to lead FNB in 2004, becoming the youngest person to run the bank in its 100 history at just 36.

The fruits of Jordaan’s labours at FNB can still be seen today.

The bank was named the most valuable brand in South Africa by Kantar, with a brand value of $3 billion (roughly R55 billion) last year.

Brand Finance also recently named FNB as the strongest banking brand in the world.

On a personal level, Jordaan was named Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in July 2008. 

He was the Sunday Times Business Leader Award winner in 2013 and was awarded CNBC’s All Africa Business Leader of the Year Award in 2014.

Jordaan becomes a venture capitalist

Jordaan left FNB in 2014 to spend more time with his family. Jordaan and his wife, Rose, run the 28-hectare Bartinney Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, which has been in his family since 1953.

He now heads up a private investment company, Montegray Capital, which primarily invests in start-ups.

“We look for highly differentiated businesses with a minimum 2-year trading history, proven customer traction and potential for rapid growth,” the group said.

“We believe that smart businesses, run by small, frugal teams, need modest capital to successfully take on large companies and tackle big problems.”

“Our investment approach is to provide incremental funding as the business grows and reaches certain milestones.”

Some of Montegray’s partners include 5G provider Rain, investment firm AI Capital Partners, popular ice tea brand Bos and Easy Equities-owner Purple Group.

Jordaan has not exited the banking space and was one of the five co-founders of Bank Zero, a digital bank with a focus on low banking fees, where he also acts as the chairperson.

Speaking with News24, Jordaan said that Bank Zero will look to “shout a little louder” in 2025 as it targets doubling its balance sheet.

This should see the group break even in the next two years, as it tries to reach 100,000 customers.

Although Bank Zero faces fierce competition in the digital banking space—starting down the likes of Discovery Bank and TymeBank—Jordaan said that its approach is slightly different as it did not have billions to spend setting up.

A comparison by MyBroadband showed that Bank Zero beats TymeBank and Discovery Bank when it banking fees.

Jordaan said that Bank Zero is more of an entrepreneurial start-up that has relied heavily on ‘sweat equity’ from its founders.

Despite Bank Zero’s co-founders having no immediate plans to sell out of the lender, they are considering a strategic partnership.

Montegray Capital’s portfolio
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