![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/capitec-head-line.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhen the business was launched in 2001, it traded under Daxacom. It was suggested by founder and former chief executive Michiel Le Roux. However, it was not popular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Le Roux wanted the name to be aspirational, and it needed to strongly suggest that the bank was technologically advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe new bank needed a strong brand name that would catch on quickly far and wide – something like Pep, Pepsi or Coke,\u201d TJ Strydom wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group also took a page out of the late billionaire Anton Rupert\u2019s book by pitching the brand’s image slightly above its target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNames were tested at a few of the branches. They were stuck onto bottles of tomato sauce where microlending clients sat down to have lunch,\u201d Strydom wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlthough Finaid was already an established brand, it did not move the needle. Daxacom also wasn’t popular.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daxacom had another problem. The pronunciation of c-, x-, and q-sounds in isiXhosa could cause confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smartfin founder Werner du Plessis came up with the name ‘Capitech’ – his combination of ‘capital’ and ‘technology’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, it \u2018just did not look right on a whiteboard\u2019. Carl Fischer, chief executive of marketing and corporate affairs, got up and drew a line through the ‘h’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After he had sat down, there was a moment’s silence, and the team knew that Capitec was the right name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, Capitec is one of the best-known and most powerful brands in South Africa and on the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2023, Capitec was ranked as the second-strongest African banking brand and in 2024, it was recognized for being best at capturing market share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n