GoTyme puts R150 million back in customers’ pockets through free instant payments
South Africans are paying millions in bank fees every year – but GoTyme Bank believes moving your own money shouldn’t be one of them.
By keeping instant payments free for transactions up to R5,000, the bank says more than R150 million a year is staying in customers’ pockets instead of being collected as transaction fees. This is a deliberate bet that long-term customer value matters more than squeezing income out of everyday payments.
But for GoTyme Bank, customer value is about more than what customers do not pay. The bank says its GoHuman strategy is about making sure that as banking becomes more digital, the experience becomes simpler, more responsive and more human.
GoHuman: customer value beyond fees
That strategy is starting to show up in independent customer-experience measures. In the latest Ask Afrika Orange Index, GoTyme Bank climbed from sixth to second place in the banking category, while its Net Promoter Score improved by 10 points, from 48 to 58.
Since rebranding to GoTyme Bank, the bank has expanded its customer-service capabilities, including in-app chat and WhatsApp integration, alongside the rollout of physical Customer Hubs across the country. The aim is to combine the speed and convenience of digital banking with accessible human support.
“The more digital the world becomes, the more human your bank needs to be. That’s the standard we’re setting for ourselves as we continue to grow,” says GoTyme Bank CEO Cheslyn Jacobs.
One in four PayShap cellphone payments starts at GoTyme
Payments are just one of the clearest examples of that customer-value philosophy in practice. The number of customers using PayShap has increased by more than 250% year on year, while approximately 70% of payments made by GoTyme customers are now instant and free.
In another indication of the bank’s growing influence, 26% of all PayShap cellphone payments in South Africa originate from GoTyme Bank accounts.
The financial benefit is substantial. By removing fees on qualifying instant payments, GoTyme Bank estimates that customers are avoiding more than R150 million in banking fees annually. The figures form part of the bank’s 2026 performance update, unveiled at its GoTyme. GoHuman. GoForward. media briefing in Johannesburg.
Jacobs believes these developments point to a fundamental change in customer behaviour.
“We’re seeing South Africans move beyond the idea that instant payments are a premium banking feature. For our customers, they’re increasingly becoming the normal way to pay,” says Jacobs.
“When nearly 70% of payments made by your customers are instant and free, and one in four PayShap cellphone payments nationally originates from your accounts, you’re seeing more than adoption. You’re seeing a change in how people expect banking to work.”
Four million customers on a new banking platform
The payments growth comes as GoTyme Bank completes one of its most significant digital transformations.
Following its transition from TymeBank to GoTyme Bank earlier this year, more than four million customers have moved onto the bank’s new app. Based on its current trajectory, GoTyme Bank expects to become South Africa’s third-largest bank by monthly app users by the first quarter of 2027.
But Jacobs says the bank’s ambitions extend beyond customer numbers and app rankings.
“The real measure of success is not how many people download our app. It’s how many people choose to use GoTyme as part of their everyday financial lives,” he says.
“Every payment, every deposit and every transaction represents an opportunity to make banking work better for someone.”
Click here to learn more about GoTyme Bank’s free instant payments.
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