South African banking giant adding 6,500 customers a day

South African digital banking group TymeBank added over 1.2 million customers between June and December 2024—over 6,500 a day—and shows no signs of slowing down.

Reporting for the interim period ending December 2024, the group hit 10.7 million customers in South Africa, up from the 9.5 million recorded in June 2024.

The results were contained in the interim financial report from African Rainbow Capital Investments (ARCI), where the Tyme Group accounts for 16.3% of the fund’s entire R20.5 billion value.

ARCI’s holdings in Tyme reduced during the period, from R3.93 billion to R3.5 billion due to an investment by Sanlam in ARC Financial Services Holdings, diluting the fair value.

However, Tyme Group had net fair value gains of R27 million over the period.

ARCI has also made a new distinction when reporting on Tyme Group, splitting up the disclosures between TymeBank SA (the South African operations) and Tyme Global (international operations).

Previously, these were considered a single investment due to their shared ownership, strategy and management structure.

However, since the completion of a $250 million funding round led by global digital bank Nubank, the oversight and evaluation of the global operations have become distinct.

TymeBank Executive Chairman and co-founder Coenraad Jonker announced the funding in December 2024, laying out the group’s ambitious plans to roll out in Asian markets.

The funding will also lay the way for an initial public offering by the end of 2028.

As part of the capital raise, ARC Group took up more shares in TymeBank SA than Tyme Global, thus they are now disclosed separately.

Tyme Global serves as the holding company for the launch of multi-country banks, including TymeBank in South Africa and GOtyme in the Philippines.

GOtyme launched in November 2022 and has already hit 5 million customers.

Notably, while ARC Group holds around 42% of TymeBank, ARCI holds 15.9%. The intrinsic value of ARCI’s investment is R2.26 billion, putting TymeBank’s total valuation around R14.2 billion.

For Tyme Global, the ARC and ARCI shareholding is 33.6%/12.6%, respectively, with ARCI’s shareholding valued at R1.19 billion for a R9.45 billion valuation.

Combined, the total value of the Tyme Group is around R24 billion.

TymeBank performance

ARCI said that for the interim period ending December 2024, TymeBank SA showed consistently higher growth in consumer onboarding compared to its international peers.

This is reflected in the addition of 6,500 customers per day to hit 10.7 million overall, while income-generating transactions have also grown consistently month over month.

It said total deposits rose to R6.9 billion from R6.3 billion in June 2024, while net advanced increased from R1.9 billion to R2.3 billion.

The group has been investing in long-term strategies using advanced data analytics and AI to boost customer experience and develop new products.

ARCI said this would add pressure to short-term profitability for the group, but would result in longer-term gains.

TymeBank hit breakeven ahead of plan back in December 2023, less than five years since launching in February 2019.

The bank will also continue to leverage its partnerships with retailers and other fintech companies like TFG, Boxer, Pick n Pay and Kazang to boost value propositions for customers.

The $250 million capital raise in December 2024 will also allow it to expand its lending portfolio.

However, the bank’s overall valuation was adjusted downward by R324 million to reflect the price at which the capital raise was completed, ARCI said.